
Class _ R^^lJX^S 

BQok_.15-&3 b4r 

Copyright N^ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



L i' ^^ 



the LILIAN BELL 
BIRTHDAY BOOK 




Copyright, 11)00, by Oliver Dennett Grover. 



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The 
LILIAN BELL 

BIRTHDAY BOOK 



EDITED BY 

A. H . B O G U E 




BOSTON 

L. C PAGE & COMPANY 

M D C C C C I I I 



TMf LlSRAi^Y OF 

0ON^>RESS, 
"■"•) Copits Recsived 

SEP, !6 1902 

POPVUIOHT ENTRY 



>^ 



uks (2/XXa No- 






3 43i-5' 



Copyright, 1893, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1900, igoi, by 
Harper & Brothers 

Copyright, 1895, by 
Stone & Kimball 

Copyright, 1902, by 
L. C. Page & Company (Incorporated) 

A II rights reserved 



Published, September, 1902 



GEO. H. ELLIS CO., PRINTERS, BOSTON, MASS. 



S)e&icate& 



MARY HARTWELL CATHERWOOD 

THE BRILLIANT WOMAN WHO MOST GENEROUSLY ADMIRES 
ANOTHER WOMAN'S WIT 



FOREWORD 

// is the custom of taste and Christianity and civili- 
zation to wait until hearts have ceased to feel and 
ears to hear before we pour forth our tributes to the 
excellencies of our loved and great. 

In direct defiance of the possible criticism of these 
oracles I have gathered together the epigrams of one 
living author^ and have dedicated the book to another 
living author^ that both may see and feel and, I hope^ 
enjoy. 



The LILIAN BELL 
BIRTHDAY BOOK 



JANUARY 

January T~XO you suppose bccausc I know 
JL^ Greek that I cannot be in love ? 
Do you suppose because I went through higher 
mathematics that I never pressed a flower he gave 
me ? Do you imagine that Biology kills blushing 
in a woman ? — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



January QjHE was almost bcautiful ; and there 
kJ was a Sabbath calm in her presence 
which led one's thoughts, perhaps not quite to re- 
ligion, but at least as far as ethics. — A Woman of 
No Nerves^ from The Instinct of Stepfatherhood. 



January ^^TREN an American man is 3. 
VV gentleman, he is to my mind the 
most perfect gentleman that any race can produce, 
because his good manners spring from his heart, 
and there are a few of us old-fashioned enough to 
plead that politeness should go deeper than the 
skin. — From a Girl's Point of View. 



JANUARY 



January 

1 



January 

2 



January 
3 



riie LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January TV /TEN ncvcr realize the height of 
■* i. ▼ A the pedestal where women in love 

place them, nor do they know with how many 
perfections they are invested, nor how religiously 
women keep themselves deceived on the subject. 
They cannot comprehend the succession of little 
shocks which are caused by the real man coming 
in contact with the ideal. And, if they did under- 
stand, they would think that such mere trifles 
should not aflFect the genuine article of love, and 
that women simply should overlook foibles, and go 
on loving the damaged article just as blindly as 
before. But what man could view his favorite 
marble tumbling from its pedestal continually, and 
losing first a finger, then an arm, then a nose, and 
would go on setting it up each time, admiring and 
reverencing in the mutilated remains the perfect 
creation which first enraptured him ? He wouldn't 
take the trouble to fill up the nicks and glue on 
the lost fingers as women do to their idols. He 
wouldn't even try to love it as he used to do. 
When it began to look too battered up, he would 
say, " Here, put this thing in the cellar, and let's 
get it out of the way." — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

4 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January -wj" (ys^ '^^ ^^ world are you going to 
^ J. A find out whether you like a man 

unless you do encourage him ? You never even 
begin to know him until he falls in love with you ! 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



January "T JT THEN I talk with a clever man, I 
V V feel a little tingling in my brain, 
as if my ideas were being called for by one who 
deserved them, and as if they were waking out of 
the sleep into which they had been lulled by the 
conversation of other men. — A Study in Hearts^ from 
The Instinct of Stepfatherhood. 



January XTQU might cram a woman's head 
^ X with all the wisdom of the ages, and, 

while it would frighten every man who came near 
her into hysterics, it wouldn't keep her from going 
down abjectly before some man who had sense 
enough to know that higher education does not rob 
a woman of her womanliness. Depend upon it, 
when it does, she would have been unwomanly and 
masculine if she hadn't been able to read. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

5 



January 
6 



January 

7 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January "TTTE Americans always talk the 
V V most about what we care the 
least. That's why we talk about money, and honor 
love. You French talk about love, and honor 
money ! " — The Expatriates. 



January ^^^ THEN an attractive American girl 
V V is bored, it generally means that 
she is not in love with any one. It never means 
that no one is in love with her. That unfortunate 
state of things would cause her to be discontented, 
not bored. Besides, there always is jowd-body in 
love with the attractive American girl. — A Study in 
Hearts y from The Instinct of St epf at her hood. 



January y WOULD like to be a man for a 

X while, in order to make love to two 
or three women. I would do it in a way which 
would not shock them with its coarseness or starve 
them with its poverty. As it is now, most women 
deny themselves the expression of the best part of 
their love, because they know it will be either a 
puzzle or a terror to their lovers. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



8 



January 



January 
lO 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January T p a girl has one lover, she is called " a 
X sweet creature" by other girls. If 
she has two or three, she is respectfully alluded to as 
" fascinating." If she is unhappy enough to have 
won half a dozen, with more on the ragged edge, 
she is stigmatized as "a coquette." — A Study in 
Hearts, from The Instinct of Stepfather hood. 



jantiary y BELIEVE some men could go 
X through life without loving anybody 
on earth. But the woman never lived who could 
do it. A woman must love something, — even if 
she hasn't anything better to love than a pug-dog 
or herself — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



January " ripROUBLE between husbun an' 
A wife is dey own bizness, and no- 
body else has got a right to say whedder or no. 
Dat's what / sez ; an' I knows, I does ! I ain't been 
mah'd as many times as Isrul, but I'se had enough 
trouble wid de one husbun I hab had to make up 
foh it ! I has foh a fack ! " — Lizzie Lee's Separa- 
tion, from The Instinct of Stepfatherhood. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 
11 



Jantiarsr 
12 



January 
13 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

January ^ ■ AHE man undcf thirty-five is being 
*^ A trained in a thousand ways every 

day that he Hves. Some learn more quickly than 
others. It depends on the type of man and on the 
length of time he is willing to remain in the raw. 
'The Untrained Man under Thirty-five^ from a Girl's 
Point of View. 

January T T"ER inner nature was like a combi- 
*^ JL X nation of unmined metals. One 

could trace copper and gold and a little alloy. But 
the great emotion or heart experience which would 
separate the metals, releasing the gold and destroy- 
ing the alloy, had not come to her. — Miss Scar- 
borough's Point of VieWy from Sir John and the 
American Girl. 

January A ■ ^HERE is Something which makes 
^ JL you hold your breath before you 

enter the inner nature of some one who has ex- 
traordinary depth. You feel as if you were going to 
find something different and interesting, and possi- 
bly difficult or explosive. It is dark, too, yet you 
feel impelled to enter. It is like going into a cave. 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

14 



January 

15 



January 
lO 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



januarsr y IKE most men who live in the open 
*' i J air, he had ideals, and high ones, 

of women. — The Expatriates. 



January ^^~V H, have you ever entertained people 
V^ who made you worry so for fear 
you couldn't suit them that you just wanted to lie 
down and die beforehand ? — With Mamma Away^ 
from Sir John and the American Girl. 



January OOME persons Seem to possess an 
\Zj atmospheric mental quality. There 
are those who seem gray and leaden, as if it might 
rain at any moment. There are others whose cold 
crispness means a sharp wintry nature, which stings 
like the sudden warming of frost-bitten hands. 
There are others whose gentle melancholy and 
tender pessimism mean nothing short of autumn 
temperaments, where summer is gone forever and 
nothing but approaching snow can tinge their 
thoughts. 

Then in a class quite by themselves come those 
eager natures which remind you of the approach 
of spring. — The Expatriates. 



M 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

17 



January- 
is 



January 
19 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January rT^HERE IS no finer generosity than 
A to receive generously, with the same 
largeness with which one gives. — A Little Sister to 
the Wilderness. 



January «« j THINK whcn a horse hears him- 
A self recommended to anxious par- 
ents as safe, steady, and gentle as a kitten, when he 
himself knows that h-e shies at bicycles, that it is 
his equine duty to show the whites of his eyes, to 
signify * danger ahead,' even if It spoils a trade." — 
Miss Scarborough' s Point of VieWy from Sir John 
and the American Girl. 



January XT THY is it that all the cleverest men 
V Y we know have selected girls who 
looked pretty and who coddled them ? Look at 
Bronson and Flossy ! That man is lonesome, I 
tell you, Ruth. He actually hungers and thirsts 
for his intellectual and spiritual affinity, and yet 
even he did not have the sense, the astuteness, to 
select a wife who would have stood at his side, in- 
stead of one who lay in a wad at his feet. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



i6 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Januarsr 
20 



Jantiary^ 
21 



January 
22 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

januarsr TF I See a fine painting or hear mag- 
X nificent music, I think of Rachel be- 
fore any other thought comes into my mind. One 
involuntarily associates her with anything wonder- 
fully fine in art or literature, with the perfect assur- 
ance that she will be sympathetic and appreciative. 
She understands the deep, inarticulate emotions in 
the kindred way you have a right to expect of your 
lover, and which you are oftenest disappointed in, 
if you expect it of him. If I were a man, I should 
be in love with Rachel. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



January TT O W can those girls who give evi- 
^ J. JL dence of no more thought than is 

evinced by their namby-pamby chatter call their 
existence living ? They mistake pertness for wit, 
audacity for cleverness, disrespect to old age for in- 
dependence, and general bad manners for individu- 
ahty. Has nobody ever trained these girls to 
think? What kind of schools do they attend? 
Who has spoiled them by flattery, until they are 
little peacocks to whom a mirror is an irresistible 
temptation ? — Girls and Other Girlsy from From a 
Girl's Point of View. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 
23 



January 

24 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

jantiarx « O^HE's got dc sin ob avariciousness, 
•^ \<3 if anybody ever had. De Lawd 

knows what she's saving huh money for — I don't. 
She don' buy no clo'es, she don' go to de picnics, 
she don' go to corn-roasts nor barbecues, nor even 
to de babtizin's for fear dey'll take up a collection. 
She don' allow herself no pleasure 'tall, she's so 
skeert she'll spend a nickel ; an', when my second 
husband was hung, do you know dat woman 
wouldn't leab off half a day's ironin' to go to de 
hangin' ! " — Yessum^from The Instinct of Stepfather- 
hood. 

if 

January A | ^HE newspapcrs have ridiculed the 
JL new woman to such an extent, and 
their ridicule is so popular, that it requires an act 
of physical courage to stand up in her defence and 
to tell the public that the bloomer girl is not new ; 
that they have had the newspaper creation — like 
the poor — with them always; that they have 
passed over the real new woman without a second 
glance. In other words, to assure them as delicately 
as possible that they have been barking up the wrong 
tree. — The New Woman^ from From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



20 



the LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

25 



Jantiarx 
20 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January JAM tired to death of hearing men fall 
X back on nonsense about their honor. 
I notice they seldom feel called upon to refer to it 
unless they are involved in something disreputable. 
'The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



January A SMALL town ! Is anything more 
Xjl maddening than to go ambling 
peacefully along in life, smiling at the world, and 
harming nobody, and suddenly to dash your head 
against the stone wall of provincial virtue, and lie 
on your back for a while, seeing red and green stars? 
I really think there is an element of viciousness in 
the virtue of a small town which is worse than loose- 
slippered liberality. — The Under Side of Things. 



January ^TT^HERE are some women who pre- 
A fer a valet to a husband ; who think 
that the more menial are his services in public, the 
more apparent is his devotion. It is a Roman- 
chariot-wheel idea, which degrades both the man 
and the woman in the eyes of the spectators. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



January 

27 



January 
28 



January 
29 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



ja»ua>-9r A WOMAN who has quarrelled 
x\. with her lover, in her secret heart 
expects him back daily and hourly, no matter what 
the cause of the estrangement, until he becomes in- 
volved with another woman. Then she lays all the 
blame of his defection at the door of the alien, 
where, in the opinion of an Old Maid, it generally 
belongs. — 'The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



jantiarsr Ti ^EN make no secret of the kind 
i. ▼ X of women they want us to be. 
We get preached at from pulpits and written about 
by " The Saunterer " and " The Man about Town " 
and " The One who knows it All," telling us how 
to be womanly, how to look to please men, how to 
behave to please men, and how to save our souls 
to please men, until, if we were not a sweet, amiable 
set, we would rebel as a sex, and declare that we 
thought we were lovely just the way we were, and 
that we were not going to change for anybody ! — 
From a GirTs Point of View. 



24 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
30 



Jantxary 
31 



FEBRUARY 



February /^FTEN it IS not that we are not 
V--/ secretly much more of women, 
and better and cleverer women, than men think us. 
But there is no call for such wares, so we lay char- 
acter and brain on the shelves to mildew, and fill 
the show-windows with confectionery and illusion. 
We supply the demand. — From a Girl's Point of 
View. 

if 

February j-jRAY do not imagine that girls 
JT have certain hours for studying 
how to make good wives, or that it is as rigid or 
exhausting as a broom drill. — From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



February ^^ AUGED by a woman's love, 
VJ many men love, marry, and die 
without even approximating the real grand passion 
themselves or comprehending that which they have 
inspired ; for no one but a woman can fathom a 
woman's love. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



26 



FEBRUARY 



February 

1 



February 
2 



February 
3 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February T y £ Icnows that he is in love, — that 
^ X. J. is one great step in the right di- 

rection. But he is in that first partly alarmed, 
partly curious frame of mind that a man would be 
in who touched his broken arm for the first time, to 
see how much it hurt.^ — l^he Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



Februarjr "^^TOW, if the asscrtion is made that 
^ X^ the American man makes the best 

husband in the world, let him not think that there 
is no room for improvement ; for with him it is 
much the same as it is with the wild strawberry. 
At first blush one would say that there could be 
no more delicious flavor than that of the wild straw- 
berry. Yet everybody knows what the skilled gar- 
deners have made of it in the form of the cultivated 
fruit. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



February QjHE is too refined and high-minded 
y<D to defend herself against the " slings 
and arrows of outrageous " people, although, if she 
would, she could exterminate them with her wit. — 
'The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



28 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 

4 



February 

5 



February 
6 



rke LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February TT HAVE Seen a young, untried race- 
^ X horse ; with small, pointed, restless 

ears ; with delicate nostrils where the red blood 
showed ; with full, soft eyes where fire flashed ; 
where pride and fire and royal blood seemed to 
urge a trial of their powers, and I have thought : 
" You are capable of passing anything on the track 
and coming under the wire triumphant and victo- 
rious ; or you might fulfil your prophecy equally 
well by falling dead in your first heat. We can be 
sure of nothing until you are tried ; but it is a 
quivering delight to look at you and to share your 
impatience and to wonder what you will do." Oc- 
casionally I see women who affect me in the same 
way. — 'The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



February yj^ secms, too, that she is great 
* A enough to be a target. So she is 

under fire continually. This, while it causes her 
exquisite suffering, is from no fault of her own, 
save the unforgivable one of being original. " A 
frog spat at a glow-worm. * Why do you spit at 
me?' said the glow-worm. 'Why do you shine 
so ? ' said the frog." — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



30 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
Febrtiarx 

7 



Tebruary- 

8 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

February ^TT^HERE IS Something strangely pa- 
X. thetic about an American woman's 
worship of titles. It is so sincere, so deep-rooted, 
so overpoweringly honest. Let Americans try to 
conceal it as they will, — let the men mock and the 
women dissemble, — yet, within an hour after they 
have really met a man of title, both will find them- 
selves talking of it. — The Expatriates. 



February j THINK men are a good deal 
A more human than women. You can 
work them out by algebra (for they never have 
more than one unknown quantity, while in the 
woman problem there would be more a:'s than any- 
thing else) ; and you can go by rules, and get the 
answer. But nothing ever calculated or evolved 
can get the final answer to one woman, though they 
do say she is fond of the last word. — The hove 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

February ^^ LEVER girls are also human. 
V^ They love to go about and wear 
pretty clothes, and dance, and be admired quite as 
much as anybody. — From a Girl's Point of View. 



32 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 



February 
lO 



February 
11 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February ^ MAN With a conscIencc will sac- 
xjL rifice his head and his bodily com- 
fort to his ideal of duty, but he clings tenaciously 
to his heart's desire, and yields that last, if at all. 
A woman with a conscience often makes a burnt- 
offering of her heart from pure altruism. Men call 
such a woman either a saint or — cold. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

February ripHESE silent, sympathetic souls, 
Jl whose receptivity makes them sen- 
sitive to the fine and beautiful, are the companions 
whom those need who have the gift of expression. 
They are the great mental cushions which pillow 
the sharp points of speech. They are the comple- 
ment of the inarticulate, — the joy, the comfort, the 
everlasting haven of the speakers in this world. — 
A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 



February QQUTHERN compHmcnts to 

^ \SJ women spring from the heart, 

French from the head. But a Frenchman lays 
his hand upon his heart, and that misleads the un- 
thinking. — Miss Scarborough's Point of VieWy from 
Sir John and the American Girl, 



34 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 
12 



February 
13 



February 

14 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

February ^TpRY to talk to the untrained man 
* JL under thirty-five upon any subject 

except himself. Bait him with different topics of 
universal interest, and try to persuade him to leave 
his own point of view long enough to look through 
the eyes of the world. And then notice the hope- 
less persistence with which he avoids your dex- 
terous eiforts, and mentally lies down to worry his 
Ego again, like a dog with a bone. — The Untrained 
Man under Thirty-jive^ from From a GirVs Point 
of View. 

February TT E has what I Call a conscience 
^^ J. JL for surface things. He regards 

life from the wrong point of view, and, as to his 
always intending to do right — you know the place 
said to be paved with good intentions. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

February y^IRLS are just the same along the 
*^ VJT main lines of sentiment and hope 

and trust and belief in men now as they ever were, 
and most of this talk about the new woman being 
different is mere stuff and nonsense. — From a 
Girl's Point of View. 



36 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 

15 



February 
lO 



February 
17 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February " J AM only twenty-sevcM, and it is 
X too soon to give up all love-mak- 
ing from my own husband. It makes me miss it 
more to be with a girl like you and see men in love 
with you, as men used to be with me, and looking 
at you as though they loved the very thought of 
you, and seeing every move you make whether 
they are looking at you or not, and hearing every 
word you speak even if they are talking to some- 
body else. It used to be that way with Frank and 
me. Then it fell away, as it so often does." — Miss 
Scarborough's Point of View, from Sir John and the 
American Girl. 

February rT^HERE is nothing like travelling 
A together or being jealous to bring 
out the innate vulgarity of people's natures. — As 
Seen by Me. 



February y ]s^ j-j^g divine unconsciousncss of 
X innocent childhood this baby com- 
forted the pure and the guilty woman alike. Only 
wisdom and culture would later teach her where to 
soothe with stones and where with kisses. — A Little 
Sister to the Wilderness. 



38 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK. 

February 
18 



February 
19 



February 
20 



,J 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

February ^HE had fetched and carried for her 
k3 mother until it was second nature 
for her to thrust pillows behind people's backs and 
tuck footstools under their feet. And many per- 
sons unaccustomed to these gentle ministrations, 
who visited her in her new home, were so touched 
by her thoughtfulness that they cheerfully sat for 
hours with their knees too high for comfort rather 
than reject her little props. — The Under Side of 
Things. 

February *« J WONDER that thcse emotional 
X women get on at all. I should 
think they would die of the strain. Men are always 
deadly afraid of such women. I believe my hus- 
band wouldn't stop running till he got to Cali- 
fornia if I should burst into tears and not be able 
to tell him instantly just exactly where my neu- 
ralgia had jumped to." — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid, 

February ry^HERE is nothing so uncivil at 
jL times as to be cuttingly polite. 
What I said wasn't so at all, but a woman is obliged 
to defend herself from a man who reads her like an 
open book. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



40 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



21 



Febrtxary 
22 



Kebrtiary 
23 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Februar^r yj QMANCE comes later to a boy 
^ XV than to a girl ; but it hits him just 

as hard when it does come, and a boy is quite as 
responsive as a girl to the suggestion of a personal 
chivalry which shall prepare him to be a better hus- 
band to a shadowy personality which he cannot do 
better than to keep in his mind and heart. — From a 
Girl's Point of View. 



February TT IKE many Other good womcn, with 
^ jL-J excellent small town intentions and 

high ideals in tatting, she was her brother's keeper 
to such a rigorous extent that her spiritual brother 
often longed to go from her presence straight to 
the broad way which leadeth to destruction, just for 
a relish. — l^he Under Side of 'Things. 

if 
February «« A/fR' FINCH COuIdn't kill EHy- 

20 IVA body. Not that I am select- 

ing a husband for his murderous capabilities, but it 
would be a satisfaction to know that if a foot-pad 
attacked him he could defend himself I believe if 
I said, * Burglars ! ' to Mr. Finch, he would crawl 
under the table." — y/ Pigeon Blood Ruby y from Sir 
John and the American Girl. 



42 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Febrtiary 

24 



February 
25 



February 
20 



nC. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

February y DEPEND a great deal upon other 
X men's opinion of a man. I never 
thoroughly trust a man who is not a favorite with 
his own sex. I wish men were as generous to us 
in that respect, for a woman whom other women do 
not like is just as dangerous. And I never knew 
simple jealousy, the reason men urge against ac- 
cepting our verdict, to be universal enough to 
condemn a woman. There always is a sufficient 
number of fair-minded women in every community 
— just enough to be in the minority — to break 
continuous jealousy. — I'he Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



February "IV iTEN must nccds study women. 
i.V J. Often the terror with which 
some men regard these, to us, perfectly transparent 
complexities, could be avoided if they would ana- 
lyze the cause with but half the patience they 
display in the case of an ailing trotter. But no. 
Either they edge carefully away from such dangers 
as they previously have experienced or, if they 
blunder into new ones, they give the woman a 
sealskin, and trust to time to heal the breach. 
"The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



44 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 

27 



February 
28 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February '^JO one could deny that the room 
*^ X^ was beautiful, for the military 

lends itself readily to decorations. From crossed 
sabres and stacked arms up to small cannon, every- 
where were the signs of the peaceful side of war ; and 
over and under and above, in all kinds of soft dra- 
peries and flowing festoons, the flag, — the dear, dear 
flag, — that flag which taste and love and patriotism all 
combine to make us think the most beautiful in the 
world ; the flag which pulls at your heartstrings like 
a human thing when you see it floating anywhere ; 
which makes you want to put your hand on it and 
love it, if you see pictures of it with hosts of others ; 
which, when you accidentally run across it in 
Europe, makes you want to kiss and hug and cry 
over it, if you are a woman ; and stand up and take 
your hat oflf to it, if you are a man. — The Under 
Side of Things. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



February 
29 



MARCH 



MarcH yp scems sometimes as if children know 
* A just when their heavenly healing is 

needed by helpless grown people ; for what else can 
explain their sudden bursts of affection, or the love 
expressed in their clinging kisses when one least 
looks for such outpourings? — A Little Sister to 
the Wilderness. 

MarcH TV^TO woman's friendship could stand 
^ X^ the test of a man's coming between 

them. — With Feet of Clay^ from Sir John and the 
American Girl. 

MarcH ^HE possesscd the American girl's 
•* w3 native quickness of wit, and she had 
that sharp little manner of putting things which 
made you look up from your soup, if you sat next 
her at dinner, but it seemed more than all to be 
her electrical vitality which made you like her. 
There was a sparkle to all she did, as if the sunlight 
were flashing over a little lake. — 'The Expatriates. 



MARCH 



Marcb 

1 



MarcH 
2 



MarcH 
3 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH " T'M afraid that some day, after I am 
^ JL safely married to you, and you are 

nagging my life out, that I shall meet the man, for I 
know he exists somewhere, who will think the very 
sins for which you lecture me, virtues; who will 
accept me wholly, imperfections and all ; who will 
allow me to be myself, and find that self wholly 
good ; who will foster the very side of me which you 
are trying to crush ; who will think that when I do 
the thing it becomes fine and good, because he 
knows and believes in the real me, and who will 
never consider my most generous actions * bad 
form.' " — The Expatriates. 



MarcH yp jg Q^g Qf ^\^q unanswered conun- 
•^ X drums of life why the anger of a lover 

rises to a white heat at a similar display of his own 
mild insanity in any one else. — The Under Side of 
Things. 



MarcH A | AHERE is something pathetic about 
^ X the wrinkled socks of an old man, 

especially if they are white. — A Little Sister to the 
IVilderness. 



50 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH 

4 



Marcb 

5 



MarcH 
6 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Marck XT IS the cffcct Only that men take in; 
X and when a man goes into ecstasies over 
a gown of pale green on a hot day just because you 
look so cool and fresh in it, when you know that 
you paid but forty cents a yard for it, and only 
nods when you show him your velvet and ermine 
wrap, which cost you two hundred dollars, I would 
just like to ask you if it pays to dress for him. 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



MarcH «^^AN you fall in love to order?" I 
® V^ asked in dismay. " Not exactly. 

* To order ! ' Why, no. Anybody would think 
you were having boots made. But it's being with 
a man, and having him awfully good to you, and 
admiring everything you say, and having lots of 
smart clothes, and not being in love with any other 
fellow, that makes you love a man." — 'The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

MarcK y IVING with a song in one's life may 
^ Lj be the sweetest while it lasts, and 

before one thinks ; but to live by a psalm is to find 
life infinitely more beautiful and worthier. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



52 



T:he LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
March 

7 



MarcH 

8 



MarcH 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

March rr^HE world is full of chatterboxes, 
X whose emptiness makes more noise 
than the fulness of the philosophers. — A Little 
Sister to the Wilderness. 

March ^T^HERE are fashions in thought as 
X well as in dress ; and the best of us 
follow both, as sheep follow their leader. We will 
sometimes follow our neighbor's line of insular 
prejudice, when worlds could not bribe us to copy 
her English or her gowns. — 'The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid, 

March TJ" ER respcct, which she withheld from 

X \. him until his sensitiveness forced him 
to make the most radical move of his life in order 
to compel it, she now, with the royal generosity of 
her nature, lavished upon him without stint or 
reason. He revelled in this fine distinction with 
the reacting joy of his previous discomfort, and 
lapped himself in the tropical warmth of her appre- 
ciation with all the satisfaction of the mentally thin- 
skinned who dread the cold judgment of the world. 
With Feet of Clay ^ from Sir John and the American 
Girl. 



54 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

MarcH 
lO 



Marcln 
11 



MarcH 
12 



T:he LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH A | AHE untold story of his silent love 
*** JL for his friend's wife was so recent, so 

hopeless, and so perfectly understood by her that 
he was safer for a companion than a freshly made 
widower; for the sacredness of his grief was tem- 
pered by a certain earthly piquancy which removed 
it from the danger of the solely spiritual and gave it 
a temporal flavor which acted as mental ballast. 
With Feet of Clay, from Sir John and the American 
Girl. 

MarcH yp secms as if some men never would 
^ X see the justice of the way a woman, who 
has been affronted by somebody else, takes it out 
on her husband or whoever happens to be handy ! 
The Under Side of Things. 



MarcH TT THEN a man speaks of a "simple 
15 y Y white muslin " in the softly admir- 

ing tone which he generally adopts to go with it, he 
means anything on earth in the line of a thin, light 
stuffs which produces the effect of youth and inno- 
cence. A ball-dress or a cotton morning gown is 
to him a " simple white muslin." — T'he Philosophy 
of Clothes, from From a Girl's Point of View. 

-- 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

MarcH 
13 



MarcH 

14 



MarcH 

15 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH y]vf ^^ brutc it is instinct; in women, in- 
X tuition, Man is the only creature sent 
■> helpless into the world to blunder along on reason. 
A Study in Hearts^ from The Instinct of Stepfather- 
hood. 

Marcb TTIS was a typical man's mind, out of 
X X which was driven all thought of love 
at the idea of a woman's having got on the wrong 
train. — A Study in Hearts^ from 1'he Instinct of 
Stepfather hood. 



MarcH y^ ^tdX life you cannot lose your love 
X and heal your worse than widowed heart 
and love anew, as you would in private theatricals. 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



Marcb TT E was moody, and confided in her. 
X X She was foolish, and confided in him. 
They both decided that their hearts were ashes, — 
love burned out, and life a howling wilderness, — 
and then proceeded to exchange these empty hearts 
of theirs and to go through this howling wilderness 
together. — 'The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



S8 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcK 
16 



MarcH 

17 



MarcH 
18 



MarcH 
19 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH « "PJUT on youf prettiest frock, the one 

X which fits the best in the back. All 
your gowns should fit best in the back, for your 
back is at the mercy of the observer. You can de- 
fend the front in fifty ways ; but how do you know 
what is going on behind you ? A woman of genius 
has the backs of her gowns faultless. Mine are ! 
The fronts of mine are plain. You never notice 
them, because I myself am the front of a gown." 
The Under Side of Things. 



Marcb irjERHAPS you think that girls do not 
Jl know enough about other girls' hus- 
bands to discuss them with profit. But, if there has 
been a dinner or theatre party within our memory 
where the married girls did not take the bachelors 
and leave their husbands for us, we would just like 
to know when it was, that's all. — From a Girl's 
Point of View. 

MarcH THviD you cver notice that men in- 
** X--/ stinctively put confidence in a girl 
with blue eyes, and have their suspicions of a girl 
with brilliant black ones ? and will you kindly tell 
me why ? — From a Girl ' j Point of View. 



60 



riie LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

Marcb 
20 



MarcK 
21 



MarcH 
22 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



*•'**'*=** TVyTEN are always saying, " Well, why 
23 1.VJ_ don't you tell us the kind of men 
you would like us to be ? " And their attitude 
when they say it is with their thumbs in the arm- 
holes of their waistcoats. When a man is thor- 
oughly satisfied with himself, he always expands 
his chest. — l^he Untrained Man under Thirty-five^ 
from From a Giris Point of View. 



MarcH A | ^HE owncr of a stern moral sense, 
*^ A who has the wit not to preach at 

people, has no idea how permeating a Puritan in- 
fluence is. It percolates through all looser -jointed 
natures with which it comes in contact, and acts 
like a spiritual tonic, stiffening up involuntarily the 
moral backbone of the weak. — Miss Scarborough's 
Point of View y from Sir John and the American Girl. 



March y WONDER why Sunday nights always 
*^ JL brings to a woman thoughts of the man 
she loves and can't marry, — won't marry, I mean. 
A Pigeon Blood Ruby^ from Sir John and the Ameri- 
can Girl. 



62 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH 
23 



March 

24 



March 
25 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



MarcH T TER gravcst fault is a witty tongue. 
•*^ JLl That which many people would give 
years of their lives to possess is what she has shed 
the most tears over, and which she most liberally 
detests in herself She calls it her private demon, 
and says she knows that one of the devils, in the 
woman who was possessed of seven, was the devil 
of wit. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



MarcH ^HE is clcver, too, at introspection 
*^ k3 and analysis — of herself chiefly. She 
studies her own sensations and dissects her moods. 
She is not, perhaps, more selfish than many another 
woman ; but her selfishness is different. She is 
mentally cross-eyed from turning her eyes inward 
so constantly. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



**=^'«=** /^^H, I hope, if I should live to be over 
*® V>/ fifty, that I may be a pleasant old 
person. I hope my teeth will fit me, and the part- 
ing to my wave be always in the middle. I hope 
my fingers will always come fully to the ends of my 
gloves, and that I never shall wear my spectacles on 
top of my head. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



March 
20 



March 
27 



March 
28 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Max-cH y j)Q j^q^ ggg }^q^ ^ woman with any 
X self-respect can marry until she meets 
her master. The man I marry must have a stronger 
will and a greater brain than I have, or I should rule 
him. I shall never marry until I find a man who 
knows more than I do. Yet, as to these other men 
who have loved me, you know what a tender place 
a woman has in her heart for the men who have 
wanted to marry her. My intellect repudiated, but 
my heart cherishes them still. Odd things, hearts. 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



MarcH ^ BORE is a man or woman who 
jL\. never knows How or When. — Men 
who Bore us, from From a Girl 's Point of ^iew. 



MarcH l^TOBODY wants undiluted honesty, — 
X^ least of all, men. But the mistake 
women make is in coloring the truth. They make 
it gray, and gray is dull and unbecoming. Now 
when / color the truth, I make it red. Most men 
love red. It warms and cheers. — The Under Side 
of Things. 



66 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

Marcb 
29 



MarcH 
30 



Marcb 
31 



APRIL 



April fT^HE first spring wind brings a sugges- 
A tion of late patches of snow, of the last 
thaw, of the rich black earth melting beneath, of 
the thin green stalks of jonquils and crocuses to-day 
and the promise that we shall have violets to- 
morrow. There is little of tenderness in a spring 
wind. It is too young for that. Tenderness comes 
with experience. But there is a rush and a whirr in 
it as of myriads of unseen wings, and there is a 
buoyancy in its sting which sends a sparkle into 
wintry blood and a thrill to cool pulses ; for its elec- 
tricity is contagious. — The Expatriates. 



April Tft yf'ANY people, of wide experience in 
XV JL other matters, absolutely deny the 
existence of love at first sight. They lay great 
stress upon the impossibility of such an occurrence, 
and point with pride to the fact that they are bank 
presidents or treasurers of orphan asylums or alder- 
men, to give weight to their opinions. — The Under 
Side of Things. 



68 



APRIL 



April 
1 



April 
2 



the LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

April A I AHE more I know of horses, the more 
jL natural I think men and women are 
in the unequalness of their marriages. I never yet 
saw a pair of horses so well matched that they 
pulled evenly all the time. The more skilful the 
driver, the less he lets the discrepancy become 
apparent. Going up hill, one horse generally does 
the greater share of work; and, if they pull equally 
up hill, sometimes they see-saw and pull in jerks on 
a level road. And I never saw a marriage in which 
both persons pulled evenly all the time ; and the 
worst of it is, I suppose this unevenness is only 
what is always expected. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 

-^""^ IV /fOST men are provincial when they 
^ i. V -L make love, but it is the provincialism 
of those who give the matter no thought, and not 
of bigotry. — Love - making as a Fine Art, from 
From a Girl's Point of View. 



April 

5 



IT is queer what a curious effect daylight 
has on love, and odd how many of the 
kinks the moon puts in that the sun takes out. 
The Under Side of Things. 



70 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
A.pril 

3 



April 

4 



April 

5 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April yx is the curse of triflers that even when 
X in earnest they cannot take all the com- 
fort from the blissful pastime of falling in love with 
which that rapturous occupation is usually fraught. 
A Study in Hearts^ from 'The Instinct of Stepfather- 
hood. 

April A I ^HEIR manners in public would have 
A put Beau Brummel to the blush ; but 
in private Frances was a little demon, and Peggy 
would fight as quietly but as long as a bull-dog. 
Frances flew into a passion a dozen times a day, 
but was ready to kiss and apologize in two minutes. 
Peggy would stand almost anything, but, when once 
her anger against her sister began to burn with a 
slow white heat, she had to be peeled off of Frances 
like a plaster. — The Under Side of Things. 



^'*''" XJOBODY could take any comfort with 
X ^ as sharp a child as Frances, and people 
made no secret of their preference for the soothing 
companionship of her fat little sister. Most people 
prefer a pin-cushion to an emery — for daily use. — 
The Under Side of Things. 



72 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 
6 



April 

7 



April 
8 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April •^IRLS really believe, I suppose, that 
vJ they dress for other girls ; but they do 
not. They dress for men. And only experience 
will teach them the highest wisdom in the matter. 
But that they cannot acquire until they believe 
that only another woman will know just how well 
they are dressed, and, above all, whether Doucet 
turned them out or a dressmaker in the house at 
two dollars a day. — The Philosophy of Clothes ^ from 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



April y SUPPOSE that women who never have 
' encouraged a love which they did not 



I 

intend to return never dream that an honest love 
may not be reciprocated. — The Love Affairs of an 



Old Maid. 

if 



April y WONDER how many marriages there 
A. really are where both are perfectly free to 
marry. I mean, no secret entanglements on either 
side, — no other man wanting the bride, no girl 
bitterly jealous of her. I never heard of one, — not 
among the people / know, at least. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 



74 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 

9 



April 

lO 



April 
11 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April "p^EAUTY such as hers successfully 
** J3 masks unusual intelligence ; for who 
looks for philosophy in Venus ? — A Little Sister 
to the PFilderness. 

April "|~J\LDERLY admirers with unctuous 
*** m2j manners and an oily skin can make 
themselves very revolting to sensitive young ladies 
with romantic tendencies. — The Under Side of 
Things. 

April T_TE felt that a girl who could look up 
*^ JLjl at a fellow like that was enough to 
turn West Point back to the starting-place for all 
the world, — the Garden of Eden, so called, per- 
haps, because two lovers were there alone, with no- 
body to bother them or ask them to make up a 
set. — The Under Side of Things. 



April rr^HERE is something particularly ru- 
*^ X minative about the occupation of 

watching for the postman. A girl is apt to feel 
gently sentimental at such a time. — A Study in 
HeartSy from The Instinct of Stepfather hood. 

^6 " 



riie LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 
12 



April 
13 



April 

14 



April 

15 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April Xp a woman's heart is filled with love for 
X a man, it makes it so tender that he has 
doubly the power to wound by a word or neglect. — 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



April T TER sensitiveness through every avail- 
^^ JTX able channel makes her of no use to 
general society. Blundering people tread on her, 
malicious ones tear her to pieces. She is so clever 
that she is perfectly helpless. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



April TT is of no use to kick against the pricks. 
*® A Bores are in this world for a purpose, — 
to chasten the proud spirit of women, who otherwise 
might become too indolent and ease-loving to be of 
any use, — and they are here to stay. — Men who 
Bore Us, from From a Girl's Point of View. 



April A I AHERE is a delicacy, a fineness, about 
*^ X an answering silence which quickens 

the mind beyond that of the most responsive 
speech. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 



78 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
A,pril 

16 



April 

17 



April 
18 



April 

19 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April /^^UTSIDE gossip was scarce, of course, 
*^ V^ in a town like Stockbridge, where 
nothing ever happened. Still, Mrs. Copeland 
thought there was no sense in Mrs. Overshine's 
acting as if she were the ark of the covenant, just 
because she was in the inner circle of a celebrated 
New York divorce case. — The Under Side of 
Things. 



■^J*"* TTIS anger never disturbed her. She 
** jn could cope with that. It was only 
his conceit which sickened her, and made her long 
for unlimited open air, — some vast wilderness in 
which to pray out loud her thankfulness that she 
wasn't married to him and forced to liste i to it 
always. — Miss Scarborough' s Point of VieWy from 
Sir John and the American Girl. 



April " y BELIEVE in callin' a spade a spade, 
^* X and not * a sweet little shovel,' just be- 

cause it happens to belong to us ; especially when 
it is a. spade, and not entirely free from garden mould, 
either ! " — Lizzie Lee's Separation^from The Instinct 
of Stepfatherhood. 

— _ - 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 
20 



April 
21 



April 
22 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April *< y OOK up there," she cried, pointing. 
i J " See the red in the river, and the 
black shadows, and the silver haze on the opposite 
shore, and the purplish light on the trees. Isn't 
that a lovely picture ? " 

" What a beautiful, misty look it has," said Gor- 
don. " It is like a Corot." 

" Only in a Corot we call that haze atmosphere; 
but in Pennsylvania we call it malaria," said Kate. — 
The Under Side of Things. 



April TTE looked so manly and determined 
^ X A that Miss Scarborough viewed his 
possibilities in a feminine flash, and allowed herself 
to drift for a moment into the current of his will. 
It was one of those rare, potential moments when a 
woman lets herself think for the first time of this 
particular man as her husband. — Miss Scarborough' s 
Point of View^ from Sir John and the American Girl. 



April "W"p takes moral courage in a man to be 
25 j[_ |.j.^g ^Q Qj^g woman, if another woman has 
pitted her charms against him. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 

— 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 

23 



April 
24 



April 
25 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

April ^HE had everything in the world she 
*^ k3 wanted, yet she was always referred to as 
"poor little Elsie Copeland." Alas, to waste the 
heavenly gift of pity upon the carefully suffering 
rich ! — The Under Side of Things. 



Y April rr^HERE is no hatred so bitter as that 
*^ A engendered by outraged love. — The 

Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



A»>"* TT THEN a woman, born to be ruled by 
28 VV love only, passes by her master spirit, 
she becomes an anomaly in woman, — she makes 
complications over which the psychologist wastes 
midnight oil, and, if he never discovers the solution, 
it is because of its very simplicity. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

April y Y really would be a delightful as well as a 
*^ X most instructive thing if a man occasion- 
ally could exchange places with the woman he loves, 
and view his actions through her eyes. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

— 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 
26 



April 

27 



April 
28 



April 
29 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April ^^NE'S first enchanted, enchanting view 
V^ of Piccadilly is like being in love for 
the first time. You like it, and yet you don't like 
it, — this tremendous rush of feeling. You wish it 
would go away, yet you fear it will go all too soon. 
It gets into your head and makes you dizzy, and 
you want to shut your eyes ; but you are afraid, if 
you do, that you will miss something. You cannot 
eat, and you cannot sleep. You feel that you have 
two consciousnesses, — one which belongs to the life 
you have lived hitherto, and which is still going on 
somewhere in the world, unmindful of you, and you 
unmindful of it ; and the other is this new bliss 
which is beating in your veins, and sounding in 
your ears, and shining before your eyes, which no 
one knows and no one dreams of, but which keeps 
a smile upon your lips, — a smile which has in it 
nothing of humor, nothing from the great without, 
but which comes from the secret recesses of your 
own inner consciousness, where the heart of the 
matter lies. — As Seen by Me. 



86 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



April 

30 



\ 



MAY 



*^^y T_TE generally sat silent before her, only 
JL X looking at her in the comprehending, 
appreciative way which develops unexpected powers 
of monologue in a woman who makes thought a 
habit. — H^ith Feet of Clay^ from Sir John and the 
American Girl. 

May ^HE always knew where the hem of her 
\Zj gown was, and how her train was hanging, 
and that people were looking at her. It was a sub- 
consciousness entirely beyond her control, and in 
no way interfering with the deep experiences of her 
life ; yet because she talked about it people called 
her frivolous. — The Under Side of Things. 



May T HAVE always said that a man could 
A marry any woman he wanted to, — given 
equal conditions, — and now I shall forever after- 
wards add that a woman can marry any man she 
sets out to. — The Under Side of Things. 



88 



MAY 



May 
1 



May- 

2 



May 
3 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



^^^^ T TE thinks his money will compensate 
^ i J. for the lack of family and the lack of 
breeding, and that it will even get him into heaven. 
Well, it will almost do that. I suppose heaven is 
the only place where money will not buy an en- 
trance into best circles. — A Pigeon Blood Ruby, from 
Sir John and the American Girl. 



*•*'' ^T^HERE are traditions of women to 
A whom their engagement was the period 
of bliss for which books are the authority. But 
books are so misleading. There are other women 
who would not live through it again for anything, — 
even to acquire the husbands whom its trials pur- 
chased. — The Under Side of Things. 



*•*'' A 11 7'^ women have a right to question the 
V V wisdom of Olympus, when we, who 
must of necessity cope with the petty, narrow, hate- 
ful woman-worries of life, are only given the shield 
of Patience and are denied the buckler of Humor, 
when we might just as well have had both and been 
invulnerable, all but the heel. — From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



90 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



May 

4 



Mar 

5 



May 
6 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



^. May i"p jg gQ g^gy ^^ fggi sympathy for a man 
A you admire, especially if he is strong and 
loyal, and does not ask or desire it of you. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



^^^^ TTE was always turning over a new leaf. 
\. \. But he lived in the land of to-morrow. 
His intentions, however, were good, only Kate said 
he spent the most of his time paving hell. And 
that saying almost shocked several members of first 
families into untimely graves. — The Under Side of 
Things. 

May Y HAVE no worries which I do not borrow 
X from my married friends. I keep up with 
the fashions ; my clothes fit me ; my fingers still 
come to the ends of my gloves ; I feel no leaning 
towards all-over cloth shoes ; I have not gone per- 
manently into bonnets. I have tried to be a pleasant 
Old Maid, and my reward is that my friends make 
me feel as if they liked to have me about. I am 
not made to feel that I am passee. One's clothes and 
one's feelings are all that ever make one passee. — 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



9^ 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



May 

7 



May 

8 



May 
9 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



"^^y "IW TARY mules in West Tennessee kicks 
^^ i\l like or Nick and Gineral Grant. 

They air ugly as sin an' mean as dirt. Paw, he 
named 'em that a-way 'case he says all the trouble 
the South ever had come from one or t'other of 
them two." — A Little Sister to the Wilderness, 



May A I AHE names of the two towns may differ 
** X in v^arious Eastern States ; but their tol- 

erance rarely gets beyond two, and, when it does, it 
skips over to London and Paris. It never, for in- 
stance, comes to include three, — their own. New 
York, and Boston, or their own, Philadelphia, and 
New York. For most Eastern people the trinity 
does not exist. They have fallen into a certain 
geographical unitarianism. — The Under Side of 
Things. 



May T T 7 H EN you say of a woman, " She is one 
12 VV of those honest, outspoken persons," 
it means that she will probably hurt your feelings 
or insult you in your first interview with her. This 
is why honesty is so disreputable. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 



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11 



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12 



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May /^PPOSITE to her, on the other side of 
^** V^ the table, her younger brother squirmed. 
GifFord's years are of no importance. He was at 
the age when boys wriggle. — The Under Side of 
Things. 



May T7VXCELLENT people they were, with 
^^ I J sterling principles and large bank ac- 
counts, and clothes four seasons behind the times. 
That was the Scotch of it, — to buy good firm ma- 
terial which wore like iron, and then to wear it out. 
The Under Side of 'Things. 



May y p other women would let men alone, 
X constancy would be less of a hollow mock- 
ery. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



May QOMETIMES in fashionable life we 
*^ k3 catch a glimpse of the simple-minded, 
homely kindHness which we are taught to believe 
exists only among horny-handed farmers, rough 
miners, and hardy mountaineers. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



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is 



May 
14 



May- 
13 



May 

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May y OFTEN wonder if men who have loved 

X. superior women and married average ones 
do not have occasional wonderings and yearnings 
over lost " might have beens." — The Love Affairs 

of an Old Maid. 

if 

May A I 'SHE years cannot go on without destroy- 
® X ing the old landmarks, and I am so 
old-fashioned that change of any kind saddens me. 
People move away, strangers take their houses, the 
girls marry, children grow up, and everything is so 
mutable that sometimes my cheerfulness has a haze 
to it. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



May A I AHE favorite gibe of the self-made man 
A is directed against the college graduate. 
Let there be a young fellow present who is fresh 
from college, and let him mention any subject con- 
nected with college life, from honors to athletics, 
and then, if you are hostess, sit still and let the icy 
waves of misery creep over your sensitive soul ; for 
this is the opportunity of his life to the self-made 
man. — Men who Bore Us^ from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



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May 
18 



May 
19 



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The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



May \ STRONG-MINDED woman is easier 

X \. to persuade than a weak one. The 
grander the nature, the greater its pliability towards 
truth. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



"^^^ \ MAN whom girls have trained is really 
L\. modest. Even at twenty he does not 
think that he knows it all. — Untrained Man under 
Thirty-jive^ from From a Girl 's Point of View. 



May TT'OU never will hear a man praise even the 
X good dressing of a woman he dislikes ; 
while girls who positively hate another girl often will 
add, " But she certainly does know how to dress." 
Philosophy of Clothes^ from From a Girl ' s Point of 
View. 

^^^ I^T EARLY everybody who was full- 
X^ grown, and there were also quite a 
goodly number of non-dangerous infantile disorders, 
had his own private malady, which wis as distinctive 
and peculiarly his own, and as unavailable to others, 
as his silver door-plate. — The Under Side of Things. 



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20 



May 
21 



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May 
23 



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'^^^ A VERY good thing about Percival is that 
^ xV. he does not think he knows everything. 
It encourages me to believe in his genius. — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



May 0(HE and her conscience were on intimate 
•^ \Sy and free-spoken but not particularly 
agreeable terms. One sometimes has friends of 
that description. — A Study in Hearts. 

May TT WOULD rather argue with a woman 
X who is desperately in love, to prevent her 
marrying the man of her choice, than to try to dis- 
suade a woman from marrying a man she has set her 
head upon. You feel sympathy with the former ; 
and you have human nature and the whole glorious 
love-making Past at your back, to give you confi- 
dence and eloquence. But with the latter you are 
cowed and beaten beforehand, and tongue-tied dur- 
ing the contest. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



^^^^ T T^ED against a high soul, there is no 
\_J surer method of humiliation than an 
apology. — From a GirTs Point of View. 



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Max 
25 



May 
26 



May 
27 



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^^'^ 1V.T^ unwarned man is a suitable antagonist 
JL^ for a predetermined woman. Besides 
that, it is said that even Jove nods upon occasions ; 
but, if Venus ever did, the record has been lost. — 
The Under Side of Things. 

May A I ^O be absolutely genuine and humble is 
JL half the battle. One may win even the 
most obstinate and prejudiced. If one will only 
bend low enough, one may go through the lowest 
portal. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 

May "w-p ^i^g mother has neglected her obvious 
A duty in training her son to be a livable 
portion of humanity, who but the girls must take 
up her lost opportunities ? — From a GirTs Point of 
View. 



May y NEVER could understand why a man 
A who plays a good game of whist should 
not know how to make love. There are so many 
points in common. You can play a game of whist 
with only enough skill to keep your partner's hands 
from your throat, or you can play it for all there is in 
it. — Men as Lovers^ from From a GirV s Point of View. 



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May 
28 



2Q 



May 
30 



May 
31 



JUNE 



June X NEVER can blame people who refuse to 
accept an apology in the shape of flowers 
when the wound has been given in words. — From 
a Girl's Point of View. 



line "W" 

» 1 



J**"*® T_T E is so clever that you would be afraid 
A JL of him if it wasn't for his lovely man- 
ners, which make you feel as though what you are 
saying is just what he has been wanting to know, 
and he is so glad he has met some one who is able 
to tell him. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



June TT7HO knows the private demon who 
V V dwells, side by side with one's good 
angel, in the heart of a woman like me ? Does any 
one dream of the tumult within, when I carry such 
a proud front ? Who can tell what is going on in 
the heart of any woman who is making up her mind 
to marry ? — A Pigeon Blood Ruby ^ from Sir John and 
the American Girl. 



1 06 



JUNE 



June 

1 



June 
2 



June 
3 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June A I AHERE is SO much in life which we 
^ A cannot see at the beginning, but which 

grows with our growth, and bears us company in 
the richness of evening-tide. — The Love Affairs of 
an Old Maid. 

J'***® \ MAN who talks constantly has a 
"^ -/ jL thousand ways always at hand in which 
to make a fool of himself. A silent man has but 
one. — Men who Bore Us^ from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



June yY never does women any harm to weep 
X and sob and cry their hearts out over 
tender, old-fashioned music. And, if they were not 
just that gentle an;! sentimental and soft-hearted, 
the men would never love them as they do. — The 
Under Side of Things. 



June ^ I AHE dyspeptic generally wants to tell 
JL you " all about it." That is a bore, to 
begin with ; for nobody in the world wants to hear 
anybody in the world tell all about anything in the 
world. — Men who Bore Usy from From a GirV s 
Point of View. 



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June 

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jtine A BROKEN engagement ought to be 
JLjL considered a blessed thing as a preven- 
tive of further and worse ills. — From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



June ^HE was one of those who are fully ap- 
k_y predated only when they are dead, and 
who then call forth the bitterest remorse that we 
have not made them know in life how dear they 
were and how painfully necessary to our happiness. 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



June / I \Q have the bridge of your nose ache is 
X the only stopping-place this side of 
tears for the pathos in the under side of things. — 
The Under Side of Things. 



J^"** 1W TO love was ever wasted. It enriches 
X^ the giver involuntarily. You are a 
sweeter, better woman than before you loved, unless 
you made the mistake of small natures, and let it 
embitter you. You have no right to feel that it has 
been wasted. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



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June 
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rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June 
12 



FOR the dramatis persona a. marriage en- 
gagement is an uncomfortable contriv- 
ance in many ways. Like the misunderstood 
honeymoon, it is easier for an outsider to weave 
romances about its perfect bliss than it is for the 
courageous participants, who are simply trying to 
live it down. — From a Girl 'j Point of View. 



June TT THAT girl at a summer resort has not 
V V felt the misery of coming out on the 
verandah with the wrong man, only to see the right 
man with another girl ? And if the other girl was 
having her glove buttoned at just that particular 
moment, and your own soul's property was bending 
over her hand, — actually holding it, as everybody 
knows a man has to do when he buttons a glove, — 
and if the other girl was so absorbed in the inter- 
esting process that she did not look up to bow or 
give him a chance to bow, and you had to go on 
down the steps, chattering to your own man, who 
suddenly has become so hateful to you that you 
almost wish he would trip on the steps and land on 
his head, — then you can truthfully say that you 
know what real misery is. — The Under Side of 
Things. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June 
12 



June 
13 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June y J3Q j^Qj. mentally love white, and he does 
^ jL not mentally love black, as so many hus- 
bands and wives do. We both love gray, — different 
tones of gray, but still gray. — The Love Affairs of 
an Old Maid. 

if 



June /'~\H, these girls, these girls, who believe 
^ V-^ every time a man at a ball says he loves 
them that he means it ! — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



June IT j^-p xvi^xi beware how they criticise us 
J_-/ unfavorably ; for the truth of the matter 
is that, be we frivolous or serious, vain or sensible, 
clever or stupid, rich or poor, we are what the 
American man has made us. — From a Girl ' s Point 
of View. 

if 

June |7VVERYBODY seems to think they are 
1 -^ making an experiment of marriage, be- 
cause they are so much alike. But, then, doesn't 
every one who marries at all, Jew or Gentile, black 
or white, bond or free, make an experiment ? — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



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June 

15 



Juike 
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17 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June TTE was more than convinced that she 
JL A was a lady. In fact, she admitted it 



H 

herself. — The Under Side of Things. 



June "TT is true that these unselfish women in- 

X culcate a system of unselfishness in their 

families which often works their ruin. They rob 

the children of their rightful virtue of self-sacrifice. 

The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



*''*"* 1\ /T^ friends always have confided in me. 
1. ▼ X I suppose it is because I am receptive. 
Men tell me their old love affairs. Girls tell me 
the whole story of their engagements, — how they 
came to take this man, and why they did not take 
that one. And even the most ordinary are vitally 
interesting. Before I know it, I am rent with the 
same despair which agitates the lover confiding in 
me, or I am wreathed in the smiles of the engaged 
girl, who is getting her absorbing secret comfortably 
oflF her mind. It seems to relieve them to air 
their emotion, and sometimes I am convinced that 
they leave the most of it with me. — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 



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18 



June 
19 



June 
20 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June /^^H me, these mothers ! It brings tears 
V--/ to my eyes to think of their unending 
love, which wraps around and shelters and broods 
over every one whose helplessness clings to their 
help, whose need depends upon their exhaustless 
supply. Theirs it is to bear the invisible but 
princely crest, " Ich dien'' — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 

June X AM in mortal terror of a very little baby. 
X It feels so much like a sponge, yet lacks 
the sponge's recuperative qualities. I am always 
afraid, if I dent it, the dents will stay in. You know 
they don't in a sponge. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



June /CONVERSATION with the untrained 
V_>^ man under thirty-five is impossible, be- 
cause he never converses : he only talks. — From 
a Girl 's Point of View. 



June rr^HERE'S no use in talking. After a 
■* X girl falls in love with a man, she often 
ceases to be the girl he courted. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



iiS 



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21 



June 
22 



June 
23 



June 

24 



riie LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



jtxne "\/rEN seldom make perfect lovers. I 
^* i. ▼ J. deeply regret being obliged to say 
this, as they are about all girls have to depend upon 
in that line. — Men as Lovers^ from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



June ^HE is so perfect that there is absolutely 
\Zj no flaw in her for me to recognize and 
feel friendly with. — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 

June y^ Qj^g skilled at reading human nature 
jL an apology becomes a weapon. — From a 
Girl 's Point of View. 



June y^ID you ever notice, when he talks, how 
*® J_^ Rachel turns her head away ? But you 
can see the color creep up into her face. She is too 
proud and shy to let people see how much she cares 
for him. But, when she speaks, Percival looks at 
her with all his eyes, and positively leans forward so 
that he shall not miss a word. I love to watch 
those two. Sometimes when I have been with them, 
I feel as if I had been to church. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



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June 
26 



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27 



June 
28 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

June A I AHERE are those rare souls whose sor- 
X. row is never of their own making, 
whose lives might bask in sunshine except for the 
shadows which others cast. — A Little Sister to the 
Wilderness. 

j««e I^ENTUCKY girls are all pretty, I 
^^ X^ suppose, — everybody says so, and 
you have to make believe you think so, whether 
you do or not ; but this one, — you know her ? 
Isn't she the prettiest thing you ever saw? — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



June 
2Q 



June 
30 



JULY 



jtiiy y HONESTLY believe that the simple 
JL phrase, " I am sorry, dear : forgive me," 
has done more to hold brothers in the home, to 
endear sisters to each other, to comfort mothers and 
fathers, to tie friends together, to placate lovers ; 
that more marriages have taken place because of 
them, and more have held together on account of 
them ; that more love of all kinds has been engen- 
dered by them than by any other words in the 
English language. — From a Girl ' s Point of View, 



jtiiy TT is only by knowing the under side of 
X things that we are able to judge brilliancy 
gently. — The Under Side of Things. 



J^*'' \ GIRL who wilfully catches a man's 
xlL heart on the rebound does the thing 
which involves more risk than anything else malevo- 
lent fate could devise. — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



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JULY 



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The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

^^^^ TTOW dare men and women trifle with 
■^ JL JL the Shekinah of their lives? And, 
when it has been dulled by abuse, what a pitiful 
Shekinah it appears to the one who approaches it 
reverently, confidently expecting it to be the uncon- 
taminated holy of holies! It is this sort of thing 
which makes infidels about love. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



jtiiy OHE disbelieved in people against her 
* vD will. She envied those who could skim 
lightly over the surface of society, being amused by 
its cleverness, yet escaping the heartache which she 
always carried home with her at the remembrance 
of its falseness. — Miss Scarborough' s Point of VieWy 
from Sir John and the American Girl. 



3^'^y A LL my life I have been dodging bores 
xjL and landing clever men and floating in 
to shore on the high tide of success, without letting 
anybody catch me at my harmless little tricks except 
women. I wouldn't let them if I could have helped 
myself. But other women are sometimes too much 
for me. — The Under Side of Things. 



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5 



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J"*'' IV /TEN might be a little bit surprised if 
' i-T-L they could read the minds of these 
very wives whom they have won, whose life-work 
often may be only to improve them so that they 
will make some other woman the kind of a husband 
they should have made at first, and then to lie down 
and die. — The Untrained Man Under Thirty-five, 
from From a Girl's Point of View. 



jttiy T KNOW so many women who carry an 
X ache in their hearts, which their husbands 
never suspect ; sometimes for a love they have lost ; 
sometimes for one that never came ; sometimes for 
one they dared not take. — A Pigeon Blood Ruby, 
from Sir John and the American Girl. 



July TT is a fortunate thing for some people's 
X chances for a future life that there are a 
reasonable number of consciences distributed through 
the world, although it would be an Old Maid's sug- 
gestion that sometimes they be allowed to drive in- 
stead of being used as a liveried tiger, — for orna- 
ment, and always behind. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



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July 

8 



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jtiiy yj" is so easy for one's Ego to grow accus- 
*^ A tomed to spelling itself with a capital, and 
to forget that one's old friends had hitherto always 
spelled it with a small letter. — The Self-made Mariy 
frohi From a GirVs Point of View. 



jtiiy -yp (^Qgg j^Q^ surprise me so much when 
A girls from another city marry men under 
thirty-five. Most men do not Hke to write letters, 
and visits are only for over Sunday. — From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



jtxiy TT'OU have set your feet on the slippery 
jL downward path of Perfection, and I only 
wish you could see how stupidly conceited you 
appear to a pagan outsider because you believe so 
absolutely that you are right and that I am wrong. — 
The Under Side of Things. 



jtiiy 'T 'X THY is it that men expect an old sweet- 
13 y y heart to take an active interest in their 
bride-elect, and are so deadly sure that they will 
like each other ? — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



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12 



July 
13 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

J***'' \ LICE has embraced Theosophy and 
*** xjL spells her name " Alys." She always is 
interested in something new and advanced ; and, 
whenever I meet her, I am prepared to go into ec- 
stasies over a plan to save men's souls by electricity, 
or something equally speedy in the moral line. She 
is daft on spiritual rapid transit. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid, 

jtaiy Tyl 7IT is a weapon of defence, and was 
15 V V no more intended to be an attribute 

of woman than is a knowledge of fire-arms or a 
fondness for mice. A witty woman is an anomaly, 
fit only for literary circles, and to be admired at a 
distance. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



jtiiy TT'OU can always tell when a man is in 
jL love, especially if he is not the lovering 
sort, and has never been troubled in that way before. 
The best kind of love has to be so intuitive that it 
often is grandly, heroically awkward. Depend upon 
it, a man who is dainty and pretty and unspeakably 
smooth when he makes love to you has had alto- 
gether too much practice. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



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jtaiy y HAVE seen women so uplifted by the 
JL sound of glorious music, and men so 
stirred by the sight of some heroic deed, that I have 
thought, " Oh, what the world loses because you do 
not speak now, and tell what you dream and strive 
and agonize to do!" — A Little Sister to the Wil- 
derness. 

jt»iy (t T T THEN I see how easily some married 
V V people get along with each other, 
and how patient wives are, I do get ashamed of the 
way my husband and I fuss ; but somehow, even 
when I make up my mind not to get mad, he says 
something about my religion just too much — mostly 
about babtism — and then I flare up!" — Lizzie 
Lee's Separation, from The Instinct of Stepfather hood. 



jtiiy '\7'OU say pretty things even to old 
X women, and bring them shawls, and put 
footstools under their feet with the air of a lover. 
And if you only hand a woman an ice, you look un- 
utterable things. You have a dozen girls at a time 
in that indefinite state when three words to any one 
of them would engage you to her. — The Love Af- 
fairs of an Old Maid. 



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Jtily 
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July 
18 



J«ly 
19 



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The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



July X TER quick wit resented the inanities of 



H 



X JL the conventional, but her conscience 
kept her from breaking over its set rules. She 
shocked her mother by telling her she was too 
cowardly to be wicked, and she didn't want to be 
good. — Miss Scarborough' s Point of View ^ from Sir 
John and the American Girl. 



July "^HE ought to have had mo' patience 
k3 with him. Cuthbert admits he was 
wearin' ; but, laws, sister, most men are ! " — Lizzie 
Lee's Separation J from The Instinct of Stepfather hood. 



yj July ^TILL natures, with the power of self- 



s 



sj * kj repression developed beyond all other 

faculties, are oftenest misunderstood. — A Little 
Sister to the Wilderness. 



July ^HE was a girl over whom men went to 
V^ pieces so easily and recovered from such 
lapses so suddenly that she knew the danger of 
believing too much. — A Study in Hearts^ from The 
Instinct of Stepfather hood. 



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20 



Jtxly 
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22 



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J"^'^ "PERHAPS you don^t know that a girl 
^ \- who makes a business of wearing scalps 
at her belt never stands a bit of a chance with a man 
she really loves ; for she is afraid to practise on him 
the wiles which she knows from experience have 
been successful with scores of others, because she 
feels that he will see through them, and scorn her 
as she scorns herself in his presence. She loses her 
courage, she loses control of herself, and, being used 
to depend on " business," as actors say, to carry out 
her role successfully, she finds that she is only read- 
ing her lines, and reading them very badly, too. — 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid, 



j«iy OHE could rock on a squeaking board for 
•^ k^ an hour, with no hint from her own sleep- 
ing nerves that she was driving the more sensitive 
frantic. She never could sit very long without jing- 
ling two of her rings together or fingering her bunch 
of keys or tapping her thimble on wood. When 
she was a child, I suppose she wrote with a slate- 
pencil which — but why refer to a sound more 
horrible in my ears than the wail of a lost soul ? — 
A Woman of No Nerves y from The Instinct of Step- 
fatherhood. 



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Jtily 
24 



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25 



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jtiiy A I ^HE judge, although scrupulously care- 
*^ X ful about his diet, had dyspepsia. Per- 
haps this was because he went through with a good 
deal at his meals besides eating, particularly at 
breakfast, which was a pity. Breakfast is bad 
enough in itself, without any one selecting that un- 
fortunate time to be particularly disagreeable. — The 
Under Side of Things. 



^ \ '^^^ TTEAVEN help the man who is girl- 
*' A X spoiled ! — The Untrained Man under 
Thirty-Jive^ from From a Girl's Point of View. 



J**^*" TTEAVEN defend me from the too accu- 
*® JLX rate man ! In non-essentials the man 
who decorates his conversation with mild but pleas- 
ing patterns of that style of statement made famous 
by one Ananias is to be depended upon quite as 
surely as the man who takes all the sunshine from 
the day, and leads one's thoughts to dwell on high, 
by spending ten minutes trying to recall whether he 
dropped that stone on his foot before or after din- 
ner. — The Too Accurate Man^from From a GirTs 
Point of View. 



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Jtily 
27 



Jtily 
28 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



jttiy XTTOMEN wish to please men aside 
29 y Y fj-om their power of winning them. 
Whereas, if a man can get a girl without any change 
on his part, he considers himself a howling success. 
Men as Lovers ^ from From a Girl 's Point of View. 



J«iy A PARIS cabman makes it a rule 
^^ jr\. never to look around before he turns 
his horse. He can determine what is behind him 
with more accuracy by running into it. — The 
Expatriates. 



J«iy ly /TANY people know nothing about a 
^* JlVX real apology. A lukewarm apology 
is more insulting than the insult. A handsome apol- 
ogy is the handsomest thing in the world, and the 
manliest and the womanliest. An apology, like 
chivalry, is sexless. Perhaps because it is a natural 
virtue of women, it sits manlier upon men than 

upon women. 

. , . *• It becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown." 

Love-making as a Fine Art, from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



142 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Jttly 
29 



Jttly 
30 



Jtily 
31 



AUGUST 



X Florence, but Flossy. I suppose she 
was one of those fluffy, curly, silky babies. She 
grew to be that kind of a girl, — a Flossy girl. It 
speaks for itself. I dare say with that name she 
never had any incentive to outgrow her nature. — 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



August rx^HE wisest thought is that which is 
A ripening in the minds of philosophers 
who are yet dumb. The cleverest books are those 
which have not yet been written. The heavenliest 
music is that which is yet surging and beating in the 
hearts of men, which cannot find a voice. — A Little 
Sister to the fVilderness. 

if 

August y NEVER said you could not get mar- 
A ried. There is nothing intricate about 
that. Anybody can marry. — From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



144 



AUGUST 



August 
1 



August 
2 



August 
3 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Ati^ost T3RONSON had his ideals before he 
^ \^ was married, as most men have, con- 

cerning the kind of a home he hoped for. He 
always said that it was not so much what your home 
was as how it was. He believed that a home con- 
sisted more in the feeling and aims of its inmates 
than in rugs and jardinieres. He used to say that 
" the oneness of two people could make a home in 
Sahara." — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



August "ripHERE is nothing, absolutely 
■^ JL nothing, you cannot do with a 

man who loves you, if you don't care a speck for 
him. And the luxury of perfect indifference ! 
Emotions are awfully wearing." — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



August ly /TAKING love to women requires 
i. T -L the same sort of skill required to 
play a scientific game of whist. I have seen men 
win very superior girls, but they have done it in a 
manner which would disgust good whist-players. — 
Love-making as a Fine Art^ from From a GirV s 
Point of View. 



146 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August 

4 



August 

5 



August 
6 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August y^ LL that girls have to do is to lean 
-iTjL back, and let men wait on them until 
they see one that suits them. It is like ordering 
from a menu card for them to select husbands. 
Marrying is so easy for a girl. It comes natural to 
her. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



August TTTITH success should come the de- 
V V termination, be you man or woman, 
to fall upon your knees every day, and pray Heaven 
for strength to keep from believing the flattery of 
enemies, so that you still may be bearable to your 
friends and livable to your family. — The Untrained 
Man under Thirty-five^ from From a GirTs Point of 
View. 

Aogttst ^ILENCE is a weapon. It is a power- 
k3 ful corrective, when used against a si- 
lent person, who then sees himself as others see 
him. It is a defence, used against the indiscreet ; 
and in the hands of wise men it is a suit of armor. 
Silence is never dangerous, unless, like a gun, in 
the hands of a fool. — Men who Bore Us ^ from From 
a Girl 'j Point of View. 



14S 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



7 



8 



August 
O 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August ^HE wears red on a cold, raw day ; and 
k-^ the eyes of the men light up when they 
look at her. She wears gray when she wants to look 
demure. Let a man beware of a woman in silvery 
gray. — The Philosophy of Clothes, from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



August « ly/fEN who stand by their guns,— 
i. ▼ JL those are my heroes. Sometimes 
one never knows their names : only rhat a fireman 
belonging to such and such a company rescued 
women and children from a burning building. No 
name, often not even a medal or the recognition 
of having his name spelled correctly in the morning 
papers, but in my mind every inch a hero, and 
the bravest of heroes at that." — The Expatriates. 



August TT /"HY are old maids always supposed 
V V to wear black silks ? And why are 
they always supposed to be thin ? — the old maids, 
1 mean, not the silks. Why are literary women 
always supposed to be frayed at the edges? — Phi- 
losophy of Clothes, from From a Girl's Point of 
View. 



Tke LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



lO 



August 
11 



August 
12 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August Y F a girl receives three proposals, that, I 
X am told, is a fair average. If she re- 
ceives ten, she is either an heiress or a belle. If 
she receives more than ten, she must visit in the 
South. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



August rr^HERE is only one thing meaner 
■* A than a person who never apologizes, 

and that is a person who will not accept one. — 
Love-making as a Fine Arty from From a GirVs 
Point of View. 

Attg«8* TT JOMEN who are capable of being 
^ V V really ^ored never even see men 

who ogle, any more than, if you were being roasted 
alive, you would care if a hairpin pulled. — Men who 
Bore Us^ from Froin a Girl 'j Point of View. 



August TT THY have men always possessed an 



lO 



w 



exclusive right to the sense of 
humor ? I believe it is because they live out of 
doors more. Humor is an out-of-door virtue. It 
requires ozone and the light of the sun. — From a 
Girl 's Point of View. 



152 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



Auffust 
13 



Atig«ist 

14 



August 

15 



Atii^ust 
lO 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August rx^HE great soft gift of silence shall al- 
' A ways remain the precious possession 

of those who cherish it as they should. They shall 
still, as friend and mate, draw to themselves the 
articulate. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 



August ly /TEN have become famous as con- 
-LV-L versationalists who have only sat 
and looked admiringly at vivacious women. — From 
a Girl 's Point of View. 



August rx^HERE is a difference between pity 
X and sympathy. One is thrown at 
you : the other walks with you. — "The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 

August rr^HE " tell-all-about-everything " bore 
^ X can only be explained on the mi- 

crobe theory. None other can account for its uni- 
versality. You can carry contagion of it in your 
clothes and inoculate a person of weak mental con- 
stitution, who is of a build to take anything, until, 
in a fortnight, he or she will be a hopeless slave to 
the tell-all-about-everything habit. — Men who Bore 
Us y from From a Girl's Point of View. 



154 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August 
17 



Ata^txst 
18 



August 
19 



August 
20 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August ^HE thought what her mission was, — 
wZl to make a home ; to be a good wife ; 
to understand and teach little children. And where 
do you find the new woman now? In the kinder- 
garten colleges ; in university settlements ; attend- 
ing mothers' meetings ; teaching ignorant mothers 
how to understand the tender souls and delicate 
bodies of the dear httle creatures committed to their 
loving but unwise care. You find them well pre- 
pared by a course of study to accept the responsi- 
bilities of life when their time comes. Is that 
trivial ? Is that a subject to sneer at or to jest about .? 
Rather it is the hope of the nation. — The New 
tVomariy from From a Girl 's Point of View. 



Atx^ttst y^OME now. Own up, you men. 
** V_>^ How well do we girls know you 
when you have called on us three hundred and sixty- 
five times in succession ? Not at all. We knov/ 
only what we can see and hear. How well do we 
know you when we have been engaged to you six 
months? Not at all. We know only what you 
have been unable to conceal of your faults, and the 
virtues you have displayed in your show-windows. 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



IS6 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



21 



August 
22 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August TT7HEN success — business or social 
V V or athletic or literary or artistic — 
comes to the untrained man under thirty-five, it 
comes pitifully near being his ruin. — The Untrained 
Man under Thirty-five^ from From a Girl's Point of 
View. 

August 'XTQU can jail a man who steals your 
■* X watch ; but the girl who steals a man's 

heart away from his sweetheart walks free and un- 
condemned even, to their shame be it spoken, by 
those who know what she has done. Love is not 
a matter of infatuation. It is not the temptation 
which is wrong : it is the deliberate following it up 
simply because the temptation is agreeable. Of 
course it is agreeable ! You are not often irresist- 
ibly tempted to go and have your teeth filled ! — 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



August /- I AHE girl is actively miserable, and 
^ X her husband is indifferently uncom- 

fortable, — which is the habit this married couple 
have of experiencing the same emotion. — The Love 
Jffairs of an Old Maid. 



158 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August 
23 



August 

24 



August 

25 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August TT is a sad thing to get so used to a 
*^ X beautiful exception like love that you 

never think of it as marvellous.— The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



August y^ GIRL who deliberately intends to 
*' xjL get another girl's lover begins by 

gaining her confidence. Very likely she manages to 
stay all night with her. (That is the time you tell 
everything you know, just because it is dark, and 
then spend the rest of your life wishing you hadn't.) 
From a Girl ' s Point of View. 



August y WOULD even address a private 
*® JL query, at just this point, to the women, 

begging that the men will skip it, asking women 
where in the world we would find ourselves if we 
were unflinchingly honest with the men who love 
us ? — Love-making as a Fine Arty from From a 
Girl 's Point of View. 



August TTTHAT the Gaul calls pride the 
29 y Y Anglo-Saxon calls vanity. — 'The 

Expatriates. 

1 60 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August 
26 



August 
27 



Au£fust 
28 



August 
29 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

August rr^HE adulation of the world is more 
** A intoxicating and more deadly than 

to drink absinthe out of a stein, — more insidi- 
ous than opium, more fatal than death. It unset- 
tles the steadiest brain and feeds the too ravenous 
ego with a food which at first he deems nectar 
and ambrosia, but which he soon comes to feel is 
the staff of life, and no more than he deserves. — 
The Untrained Man under Thirty-five^ from From a 
Girl 'j Point of View. 



August yN the whole history of the world, from 
JL nineteenth - century Public Opinion 
clear back to the age of chivalry, men never have 
been inclined to deal out justice to women. It 
is their watchword with each other, but with 
women it always is either injustice or mercy. And, 
in spite of all wrongs and all abuses, I say. Heaven 
bless the men that this is so ! Who among us is 
brave enough to demand justice at the expense of 
chivalry ? — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



162 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



August 
30 



Au^txst 
31 



SEPTEMBER 



September XT is not pride, it is a stupid van- 
X ity and an abnormal self-love which 
prevent a man or woman from apologizing. — From 
a Girl's Point of View. 



September ]\ >TEN never will have done with 
-LV X their strictures on girls until 
girls achieve two things. One is to observe more 
honor in their relations with each other, and the 
other is to learn to think. — From a Girl's Point of 
View. 

September x^QU men are so terribly practical 
X and common-sense and every-day. 
We girls like flowers, and mental indigestibles, and 
occasional Sundays. We do not know why we do, 
but we do, and we cannot help it ; and, if you are 
going to make love according to Hoyle, you must 
recognize this fact, and pamper us in our folly. 
Don't we pamper you ? — Men as Lovers, from 
From a GirV s Point of View. 



164 



S EPTEM BER 



September 
1 



Septembes* 
2 



September 
3 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September T^QES a fragment of genius cor- 
^ J_V rupt the aesthetic sense ? Is writ- 

ing a hardening process? Must you wear shabby 
boots and carry a baggy umbrella just because you 
can write ? Not a bit of it. Little as some of you 
men may think it, literary women have souls ; and 
a woman with a soul must, of necessity, love laces 
and ruffled petticoats and high-heels and rosettes. 
Otherwise, I question her possession of a soul. — 
From a GirV s Point of View. 



September ^ 3 ^\xk\ most men, love was mak- 
•^ JL\. ing him more alive. He felt 

more keen, more sensitive to impressions, more 
psychological. The woman's point of view was con- 
tinually coming into his mental vision, rendering 
him uncertain of himself, less assured. His un- 
conscious masculine finality of judgment was being 
shaken. — The Expatriates. 



September Try requires a finer type of generosity 
^ X to receive generously than to give 

generously. — Love-making as a Fine Art, from 
From a Girl's Point of View. 



166 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 

4 



September 

5 



September 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September TT E spcnds hours Studying that 
jL JL horse's traits. He is always 
saying that she won't back, or that she hates this and 
is afraid of that. His horse never has to do any- 
thing that she doesn't want to ; but his wife does. — 
Love-making as a Fine Art^ from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



September y jvj ^}^g £^g|. place, dyspepsia is such 
X a refined and ladyHke trouble. It 
has no disgusting details. You can refer to it at all 
times without fear of nauseating your hearers. In 
the second place, you can count on nearly half of 
your hearers' having it, too. — Men who Bore Usy 
from From a Girl's Point of View. 



September y4 NEW Man has been created 
'* by the development of the New 



A 

Woman, and he is the highest type we have. 



" Courtesy wins woman as well 
As valor may, but he that closes both 
Is perfect." 

— The New Woman^ from From a Girl ' s Point of 
View. 



i68 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 

7 



September 

8 



September 
9 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

September rT^QO much analysis is death to 
A unmitigated rapture. — From a 
Girl 'j Point of View. 



September J GLORY in the new woman in that 
X so often she is rich and beautiful. 
It is easy enough to be good if you are plain. In 
fact, there is nothing else left for a plain woman to 
do. — 'The New Woman^from From a GirV s Point of 
View. 

September ^TT^HE too accurate man is ubiqui- 
X tous. If you hear of him, and 
refuse to meet him, it is only to find that he has 
married your best friend, whom worlds could not 
bribe you to give up. If you weed him out of 
your acquaintance, it is only to realize that he was 
born into your relationship u. generation ago, before 
you could prevent it. Sometimes he is your father, 
sometimes your brother. Both of these, however, 
can be lived down. But occasionally you discover 
that, in a moment of frenzy, you have married him ! 
Heaven help you then, for " marriage stays with 
one like a murder." — The Too Accurate Man^from 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



170 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

September 
lO 



September 
11 



September 
12 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September T T IS a qucstion whether a woman 
*** X ever knows all the joys of love- 

making who has one of those dumb, silent hus- 
bands who doubtless adores her, but is able to 
express it only in deeds. — Love-making as a Fine 
Art, from From a GirVs Point of View. 



September TJVAR be it from me to say that the 
*^ J7 untrained man under thirty-five, 

at his worst, is of no use in this world. He is excel- 
lent for a two-step. — The Untrained Man under 
Thirty-five, from From a Girl ' j Point of View. 



September A | ^HE most perfect lover is the 
^■^ JL one who best understands how 

and when to apologize. — Love-making as a Fine 
Art, from From a GirVs Point of View. 



September TT 70MEN have more conscience 
V V about deceiving themselves into 
staying in love than men have. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



17- 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 
13 



September 

14 



September 

15 



September 
16 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September yjk MAN nevcr scems to be able to 
-ZJL understand that, in order to ob- 
tain the supremest pleasure from an act of thought- 
fulness to his wife, he must be wholly unselfish and 
give it to her in her line and the way she wants it, 
and the way he knows she wants it, if he would 
only stop to think. — Love-making as a Fine Art^ 
from From a Girl's Point of View. 



September J HAVE learned to love my life 
A and to cultivate it. Who knows 
what is in her life, until she has tended it and made 
it know that she expects something from it in re- 
turn for all her aspirations and endeavors ? — The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



September JNFIRMARIES should be estab- 
X lished for the purpose of making 
the stupid interesting, or classes organized on 
"How to Be Brief" or on "The Art of Relating 
Salient Points " or on " The Best Method of Skip- 
ping the Unessentials in Conversation." / would 
go, for one. — Men who Bore Us^ from From a 
Girl 'j Point of View. 



174 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 

17 



September 
18 



September 
19 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September ripHERE IS a hollowness about 
-L having a man praise your gowns 
when you know he doesn't know what he is talk- 
ing about. When a man praises your clothes, he 
always is praising you in them. — The Philosophy 
of Clothes y from From a Girl's Point of View. 



September yt DYSPEPTIC disagrees with 
jr\. me as religiously as if 1 had eaten 
him. — Men who Bore Us, from From a Girl's Point 
of View. 



September jk MAN will always take more 
xjL good advice from a woman 
whom he has no right to love than he will from his 
own sweetheart or wife. — From a GirVs Point of 
View. 

if 

September XTOU men do not recognize the 
X romantic streak which, of more 
or less breadth and thickness, runs through every 
woman, making her love good love-making. — Love- 
making as a Fine Art, from From a Girl ' s Point of 
View. 



\~i<o 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 
20 



September 
21 



September 
22 



September 
23 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 



84 H 



OW I pity the people who love 



"never apologize'' ! — Love-making as a Fine Art, 
from From a Girl ' s Point of View. 



September -I^VERY man honestly believes that 
^ I J he has made, is making, or could 

make a good lover. — Women as Lovers, from From 
a GirVs Point of View. 

if 

September J NEVER worry mysclf when a man 
A is on his knees in front of me, 
tying the ribbons of my slipper, as to whether he 
considers me his equal politically or not. It is 
sufficient satisfaction for me to see him there. — 
Woman s Rights in Love, from From a GirVs Point 
of View. 



September A ■ \Q those of US who are romantic 
' JL it is fearful to think of deliber- 

ately turning our backs on the terrapin and lobster 
and ice-cream of life, and meditating upon plain 
bread and cold potatoes. — Men as Lovers, from 
From a Girl ' j Point of View. 



178 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
September 

24 



September 
25 



September 
26 



September 
27 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 
28 



IMAGINE the calamity of Hamlet 
married to Ophelia ! That would 
have been a tragedy. Think of a man clever 
enough to discover that his idol was made of putty, 
— that his sweetheart was a Rosamond Vincy ! 
Hamlet was a wise man. He withdrew in time. 
Most men have to be married ten years to discover 
that they have married an Ophelia or a Rosamond. 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



September TT TOMEN have tenderer hearts 
29 y y 'Ci\2ir\. men for a purpose ; and, 

if they are hurt oftener than men's, why, that is for 
us to bear. We cannot make ourselves over and 
turn Amazons at their expense. — Woman s Rights in 
Love^from From a Girl's Point of View. 



September TJAVE you nevcf noticed the 
J. JL change in conversation with the 
entrance of a new person ? How, when a lovely 
girl enters, the men all straighten their ties and 
the women moisten their lips ? — From a Girl 's 
Point of View. 



I So 



r he LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



September 
28 



September 
2Q 



September 
30 



octobb:r. 



October rr^HOSE dense persons inhabiting the 
JL thickly populated region bordering 
on foolishness, — those self-satisfied, uncomprehend- 
ing egoists occupying the half-way house between 
wisdom and folly known as stupidity, — against such 
my wrath burns fiercely. They are so deceptive, 
so un-get-at-able. They wear the semblance of 
wisdom, yet it is but a cloak to snare and delude 
mankind into testing their intelligence. They are 
not labelled by Heaven, like the fools, whom we 
may avoid if we will, or to whom we may go in a 
spirit of philanthropy. They do not wear straw in 
their hair, like maniacs, nor drool, like simpletons. 
No : they infest society clad in the most immacu- 
late of evening clothes. Often they are college 
graduates, and get along very well with other men. 
They are frequently found among the rich, some- 
times even among the poor. Sometimes they are 
stolid, and cannot understand. Sometimes they are 
indifferent, and won't understand. Sometimes they 
are English. — The Stupid Man^ from From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



OCTOBER 



October 
1 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October J SUPPOSE there is not a man in the 

X world who would not be surprised if 
he knew that we do not consider men good lovers. 
We have accepted them and been engaged to them 
and married them and pretended to them, and, what 
is worse still, pretended to ourselves that they were 
satisfactory ; but the truth is, they were not and 
they are not, — and this is the first time we have 
dared to say so. — Men as Lovers^ from From a 
Girl 'j Point of View. 



October ry^HERE are men, you know, whose 
JL one grand passion in life is for 
themselves. — T^he Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



October y^ }^gj. simplicity, she accepted the 
^ X spirit of kindliness as the complete 

fulfilment of the highest courtesy, and never 
dreamed of that pitiful portion of humanity who 
demand only the outward form of politeness, and 
are ready with their cruel ridicule if this same form 
be not of the most finished outside, leaving the 
prompting spirit grieved and forgotten. — A Little 
Sister to the Wilderness. 



184 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

October 
2 



October 
3 



October 

4 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October y QUITE envy a man who is an ac- 

■^ ^ X knowledged bore ; he is so free from 

responsibility. He does not care that the conversa- 
tion dies every time he shows his face : he is used 
to it. It is nothing to him that clever men and 
women ache audibly in his presence : he has no 
reputation to lose. The hostess is not a friend of 
his, for whom he feels that he must exert himself. 
'^ A bore has no friends. He is a social leech. — Men 
Who Bore Us, from From a GirV s Point of View. 



cto er /^^F course there is the woman who 
V-/ shrieks on political platforms and 
neglects her husband, and lets her children grow up 
like little ruffians, the woman who wears bloomers 
and bends over her handle-bar like a monkey on a 
stick, the woman who wants to hold office with 
men and smoke and talk like men, — alas that there 
is that variety of women ! but she is not new. Pray, 
did you never see her before she wore bloomers ? 
Bloomers are no worse than the sort of clothes she 
used to wear. Her swagger is no more pronounced 
now than it used to be in skirts. She has always 
had bloomer instincts. — The New Woman, from 
From a Girl's Point of View. 

i86 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
October 

5 



October 
O 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

October rr^HE whole of Europe would not 
X compensate some women for a hurt, 
when the hurt had been distinctly worded and the 
apology came in the shape of a dumb, voiceless 
present. — From a GirTs Point of View. 



October r-p^HE touching wickedness of the 
X American girl consists in saying 
things which would be a shock to her Puritan 
mother, but of behaving at all times as if chap- 
eroned by the angel Gabriel. — Miss Scarborough's 
Point of VieWy from Sir John and the American Girl. 



October QO ME of the greatest little frauds I 
^<-J know are the purry, kitteny girls with 
big, innocent blue eyes. Blazing black eyes, and 
the rich, warm colors which dark-skinned women 
have to wear, suggest energy and brilliance and no 
end of intellect. A mere question of pigment in the 
eye has settled many a man's fate in life, and estab- 
lished him with a wife who turned out to be very 
different from the girl he fondly thought he was 
getting. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
Octol>er 

7 



October 
8 



October 
9 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October J NEVER clamored very much for 
X women to be recognized as the equals 
of men, either in politics or in love, because, if I 
had clamored at all, I should have clamored for in- 
finitely more than that, /should have clamored for 
men to recognize us as their superiors, and not for 
equal rights with themselves, but for more, many 
more rights than they ever dreamed of possessing. 
'Tis not justice I crave, but mercy; 'tis not equal- 
ity, but chivalry. — Woman s Rights in Love^ from 
From a GirVs Point of View. 



October J APPROVE of men keeping silent 
A when they have nothing to say. It 
shows that they recognize their limitations, and re- 
fuse to rush in where angels fear to tread. — From 
a Girl's Point of View. 



October TT TOMEN are a beheving set of 
V V human geese, and we believe a 
great deal of what you men say, which is wrong of 
us; and much more of what your pronounced 
actions over us imply, which is worse. — From a 
GirV s Point of View. 



190 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
October 

lO 



October 
11 



October 
12 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October y^ELECTABLE as honesty is in a 
JL/ bank clerk, or would be in a law- 
yer, one yearns for a little less accuracy in the moral 
make-up of the too accurate man, for a little of the 
celestial leaven of exaggeration in the dusty dryness 
of his dead-level garrulousness. — Men Who Bore 
Us y from From a GirTs Point of View. 



October TT TOMAN'S rights! Why, the 
^ V V very first right we expect is to be 

treated better than anybody else ! Better than men 
treat each other as a body, and better by the indi- 
vidual man than he treats all other women. — 
JVomans Rights in Love^ from From a GirVs Point 
of View. 



October rnpHERE is a time when the youth 
" X of twenty knows more than any one 

on earth could teach him, and more than he ever 
will know again, — a time when, no matter how kind 
his heart, he is incased in a mental haughtiness be- 
fore which plain Wisdom is dumb. — The Untrained 
Man under Thirty-five ^ from From a GirVs Point of 
View. 



192 



i 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October 
13 



October 

14 



October 

15 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October T_T E nevcr bothers. He never is in 
X JL the way. He is as deft at button- 
ing a glove as he is amiable at playing cards. You 
always think of him first if you are making up a 
theatre party. He serves equally well as grooms- 
man or pall-bearer, although I do not speak from 
experience in either instance. He never is cross or 
sulky. He makes the best of everything; and I 
think men say that he is " an all-round good fellow." 
The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



October XS it that we women are more artistic 

X. and cleverer at masquerading the 

truth that we make so much better lovers than the 



men ? — Men as Lover s, from From a Girl 's Point 

of View. 



October ripHERE is the cry of the inarticulate, 
-L of that large, not-to-be-ignored por- 
tion of humanity whose thoughts need an interpre- 
ter ; who with womanish, nice perceptions need 
equally nice distinction in terms, to enable them to 
express the fine shades of meaning which it is their 
gift to feel. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 



194 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

October 
lO 



October 
17 



October 
18 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October TT THEN you are not the one who 

19 y y should apologize, when you are 

less to blame than he, be you the one to apolo- 
gize first, and see how quickly his noble nature will 
abase itself and rush to meet you, and how sure and 
glorious and complete the reconciliation will be ! — 
Love-making as a Fine Arty from From a Girl's 
Point of View, 



October y KNOW a man who is just an ordi- 
X nary man in everything else ; but to 
see him drive a spirited horse is to know that he 
has the making of a good lover in him. — From a 
Girl's Point of View. 



October y THINK women are often mis- 
** X judged. Men seem to think that all 

we want is to be loved. Now that isn't all that I 
want ! If 1 had to choose between being loved by 
a man — the man, let us say — and not loving him 
at all, or loving him very dearly and not being 
loved by him, I would choose the latter; for I 
think that more happiness comes from loving than 
from being loved. — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



196 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October 
19 



October 
20 



October 
21 



rJie LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



\ 



October /I WOMAN who suffers heartache 
JL\. because her husband never apolo- 
gizes to her, or who endures mortification unspeak- 
able because she has not a penny of her own, has 
no right to rebel, even in her own heart, unless she 
is training her son to make the sort of husband for 
some httle girl, now in pinafores, which she would 
have wished for herself — From a GirVs Point of 
View. 



October xp ^ j^^j^ ]^^^ j^q specific intentions 
^ A towards a girl, and has not deter- 

mined in his own mind that he wants to marry her ; 
if he is only liking her a great deal, with but an 
occasional wonder in the depths of his own heart 
whether this girl is the wife for him, — to call upon 
her casually and see the family scatter and other 
callers hastily leave is enough to scare him to 
death. — From a GirV s Point of View. 



October yi TRITE saying has my sympathy. 

^ Jl\. It generally is stupid and shop- 

worn, and consequently is banished to polite society 
and hated by the clever. — From a GirVs Point of 

View. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October 
22 



October 
23 



October 

24 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October J £Y ^-i^g j^gj^ gj^g yg ^Ij ^}^g so-called 
^ -L> rights they wish to. I never shall 

get over wanting to get behind some man if I see 
a cow. — Woman s Rights in Love^ from From a Girl 's 
Point of View. 



October J ABOMINATE those people who 
X are always right. You can't amuse 
yourself by picking flaws in them. They are so 
irritatingly conclusive. — From a Girl's Point of 
View. 



October /'^F course, every woman knows that 
V^ a sick man is sicker than a thousand 
sick women, each of whom is twice as sick as he is. 
We all know that he can groan louder and roll his 
eyes higher and keep more people flying about — 
and all this with just a plain pain — than his wife 
would do with seven fatal ailments. — From a GirVs 
Point of View. 



October T~^OR myself, I consider absolute hon- 
-L esty most unpleasant. I never knew 
any really nice, lovable women who were unflinch- 
ingly honest. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October 

25 



October 
26 



October 
27 



October 
28 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



October T^V VERY woman has had, at some time 
*^ I J in her Hfe, an experience with m.an 

in the raw. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



October Ty /T OTHERS rear their daughters and 
®® X V J. send them to fulfil their mission 

in life, of being wives and mothers, versed in every- 
thing except the two things they are destined to be. 
It is as if a ph3^sician were taught architecture, 
music, and painting, and then sent out to practise 
his unskill in medicine upon a helpless humanity. — 
From a GirFs Point of View. 



October ^ MAN thinks, if a woman begins 
•** ir\. to smile at him again after a hurt, 

for which he has not yet apologized, has commenced 
to grow dull, that the worst is over ; and that, if he 
keeps away from the dangerous subject, he has done 
his duty. Besides, hasn't he given her a piano to 
pay for it? But that same man would call another 
man a brute who insisted upon healing up a finger 
with the splinter still in it, so that an accidental 
pressure would always cause pain. — Love-making as 
a Fine Art ^ from From a Girl's Point of View. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHD 



AY BOOK 



October 
29 



October 
30 



October 
31 



NOVEMBER 



November y ]sj^ ipomt of fact, whcn a man is in 
X love and a girl does not yet know 
her own mind ; when she is weighing out their 
adaptability and balancing his love for football 
against her passion for Browning ; during the deli- 
cate, tentative period, when the most affectionate 
solicitude from friends is an irritation, there ought 
to be a law banishing the interested couple to an 
island peopled with strangers, who would not dis- 
cover the delicacy of the situation until it was too 
late to spoil it. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November rT^RERE are times in the lives of 
X all of us when it bores us to be 
talked to of home or friends or wife or husband or 
mother or religion. There are times when nothing 
but a large, comfortable silence can soothe the 
worry and fret of a trying day. At such times let 
the tactless woman and the thoughtless man be- 
ware, because everything they say will be a bore. — 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



204 



N OVEM B ER 



November 
1 



November 
2 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 1^ /TANY bravc men, who would 
-L ▼ -L stop a runaway horse or who 
would dare to look for burglars under the bed, 
quail utterly before the prospect of talking to a 
young girl who frankly says, " I don't think." — 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November ^^ THOSE wearisome, breathless 

^ V^ people, who insist upon giving 

you the tiresome details of insipid trivialities ! 
There is no escape from them. They are every- 
where. They are found on farms, in mining-camps, 
in women's clubs, in churches, jails, and lunatic 
asylums ; and the nearest approach to a release 
from them is to be fashionable, for in society no- 
body is allowed to finish a sentence. — From a GirFs 
Point of View. 



November r-pHOUGH uncultured and un~ 
^ JL taught, there are some who pos- 

sess the grander harmony of soul and poetry of 
heart which many masters and many tongues cannot 
teach to aught save the elect. — A Little Sister to 
the Wilderness. 



206 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November 
3 



November 

4 



November 

5 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November TT7HILE in her desire for enjoy- 
V V ment she was wilHng to pay for 
it by helping a mild flirtation along, still, when she 
looked out over the ocean or wakened in the 
middle of the night, she abhorred the whole situa- 
tion, and hated herself quite genuinely for counte- 
nancing it. She got over this, however, when she 
put on a ball-gown. Miss Scarborough was fin de 
siecle without and early Christian within. — Miss 
Scarborough's Point of View y from Sir John and the 
American Girl. 

November y4 ^ISS NANCY is a poct with- 
-Z\. out genius, — one who has a 
talent for discovering the fineness of life, but who 
lacks the wit to keep his views from ridicule. — 
From a Girl ' s Point of View. 



November ^ DAPTABILITY is a heaven- 
jL JL sent gift. It is like the straw 
used in packing china : it not only saves jarring, 
but it prevents worse disasters ; and without it a 
man is only safe when he is alone. — Frotn a GirVs 
Point of View. 



20S 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 



November 

7 



November 

8 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November TT TOMEN are not looking for 
V V flaws in men : they are only 
too anxious to make the best of sorry specimens 
and shut their eyes to faults, and to coax virtues 
into prominence. Men have nothing to complain 
of in the way women in society treat them. They 
get better than they deserve, and much better than 
they give. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November 
lO 



IN love a woman's first right is to 
be protected from her friends while 
she considers the man whom she contemplates lov- 
ing. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November J HAVE an idea that names show 
X character. I believe names handi- 
cap people. I believe that children are sometimes 
tortured by hideous and unmeaning names. We 
cannot be too thankful to our mothers who named 
us Mary and Dorothy and Constance. What an 
inspiration to be " faithful over a few things " such 
a name as Constance must be ! — The Love Affairs of 
an Old Maid. 



210 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 
9 



November 
lO 



November 
11 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November T^RQM the Standpoint of observa- 
** J_ tion and inexperience, I should 

say that the supremest lack of men as lovers is the 
inability to say, " I am sorry, dear : forgive me." — 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November J COULD weep over the early death 

*^ A of an epigram with a hearty spirit, 

which is second only to the grief I feel at a good 
story spoiled for relation's sake. — From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



November rT~^0 be actually interested is as 
*^ JL likely to make one grateful as 

anything in this world, unless it be a realization of 
the kindness of fate in sparing us the perpetual 
society of fools. — From a Girl ' s Point of View. 



November TTTHAT is it that makes the 
15 y y American girl so dangerous for 

all the other women in the world to compete with ? 
It is because she studies her man. — From a Girl's 
Point of View. 



T:he LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November 
12 



November 
13 



November 

14 



November 

15 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November XT-QU think I havc never loved? 
X All nonsense, my dear. The fact 
is, I am constantly in love. I manage it in this 
way. I am an idealist. I admit it. I worship an 
ideal ; but that ideal is hollow, — built like a suit of 
armor. I meet a man who attracts me. Presto ! I 
slip him into my hollow ideal ; and he marches 
around in it, doubtless wondering what weighs him 
down so. I love my ideal personally then, until I 
discover that he eats with his knife or beats his 
mother, when I take off his armor and stand it in 
the closet with my mackintosh and umbrella, until 
I need it again. Meantime I love it empty, — with 
an impersonal love which keeps my hand in. — 
Unpublished Notes. 



November yp j^g ]^^^ ^^^ married, I doubt 
X whether she would have had the 
courage to engage herself to any other man. She 
loved him too truly to take the first step towards an 
eternal separation. Women seldom dare make that 
first move except as a decoy. They are naturally 
superstitious ; and, even when curiously free from this 
trait in everything else, they cling to a little super- 
stition in love, and dare not tempt Fate too inso- 
lently. — '^he Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



214 



the LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 



November 

17 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November l^T EARLY all nicc men make good 

i.^ lovers in deeds. Many fail in 

the handling of words. >■ Few, indeed, combine the 

^ two and make perfect lovers. — From a Girl 'j Point 

of View. 



^ 



November 
19 



IT is not wilful cruelty which makes 
us say that (to a woman) the word 
" bore " is in the masculine gender and objective 
case, object of our deepest detestation. — From a 
GirTs Point of View. 



November y DARE say that more women 
JL would have the courage to remain 
unmarried, were there so euphonious a title awaiting 
them as " bachelor," which, when shorn of its ac- 
companying adjective " old," simply means unmar- 
ried. The word *' bachelor," too, has somewhat of 
a jaunty sound, implying to the sensitive ear that its 
owner could have been married — oh, several times 
over! — if he had wished. But both "spinster" 
and " old maid " have narrow, restricted attributes 
which, to say the least, imply doubt as to past op- 
portunity. — Preface to The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



216 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 
18 



November 
19 



November 
20 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November QOMETIMES ill the street-car or 
\<D on the elevated train I have seen 
women who, I felt convinced, had little babies at 
home. It is because of the peculiar look they wear, 
the rapturous mother-look, which has its home in 
the eyes during the most helpless period of baby- 
hood, — an indescribable look, in which dreams and 
prophecy and heaven are mingled. It is the sweet- 
est look which can come to a woman's face, saying 
plainly : " Oh, I have such a secret in my heart ! 
Would that every one knew its rapture with me ! " 
'I'he Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



November XT is all your own fault that you are 
A managed (as you men all know you 
are), and your fault that you get pale gray truth in- 
stead of the pure white. It starts out pure white, 
but it is doctored before it reaches you. — From a 
Girl 'j Point of View. 



November yT really is asking too much of a 
X woman to expect her to bring up 
a husband and her children, too. — From a Girl ' s 
Point of View. 



218 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November 
21 



November 
22 



November 
23 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November A | ^HE ncw woman whom I mean is 
^ X silk-lined. She is nearly always 

pretty. She is always clever. She is always a lady, 
and she is always good. Perhaps to the cynical 
that combination sounds as if she might not be in- 
teresting ; but she is. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



November XT THAT cau you say to a man 

25 y Y vvhose confidence in his power 

to please you is such that at parting he says : " I 
cannot spare you another afternoon this week, but 
I'll come next Thursday if I can. Don't expect me, 
however, until I let you know ; and don't be disap- 
pointed if you find that I can't come, after all " ? — 
From a Girl's Point of View. 



November T £Y « another woman " sympathize 
JL J with an estranged lover, and place 
a little delicate blame upon his sweetheart and flatter 
him a great deal, and, presto ! you have one of these 
criss-cross engagements which turns life to a dull 
gray for the aching heart which is left out. — 'The 
Love Affairs of an Old Maid, 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November 
24 



November 
25 



November 
20 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



November A CCURACY Is almost fatal to a 
XjL flow of spirits. If one is obliged 
to weigh one's words, one may live to be called a 
worthy old soul, but one will not be in demand at 
dinner parties. — From a Girl's Point of View. 



November /4 WOM AN always Icnows whcn a 
XjL man is so perilously near being 
in love with her that she can say anything imperti- 
nent to him with the knowledge that he will take it 
meekly. — From a Girl 'j Point of View. 



November TT THAT kind of women will these 

29 y y girls make, to whom a wrinkle 

in their waist is of more moment than their soul's 



29 V V girls make, to whom a wrinkle 

nore moment than t 
salvation ? — From a Girl *j Point of View. 



November y QQ not Want somebody to go 
X ahead and baste my life for me. 
I would rather blindstitch it for myself as I go 
along. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

November 
27 



November 
28 



November 
29 



November 
30 



D ECEMBER 



December ^TT^HE mere fact that you are all 
X in all, the only woman to the 
man you so dearly love, the one person who can 
make his world ; when you think that your being 
away from one meal or out of the house when he 
comes in will make him miss you till his heart 
aches, — this will keep down a moan of pain when it 
is almost beyond bearing, for fear it might cause 
him to suffer with you. It will nerve you to stand 
up and smile into his eyes, when you are ready to 
drop with exhaustion. Love, such as a husband's 
love for his wife, is the most precious, the most 
supporting thing a woman can have." — The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 



December yj £ ^^s red-headed and freckled ; 
A X but, in looking back over one's 
acquaintance with pleasant people, the nicest people 
one knows are so often red-headed and freckled that 
it ought to put a premium on freckles. — The Ex- 
patriates. 



224 



D EC EM BER 



December 
1 



December 
2 



T:he LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December TT E has married Frankie Talia- 
A A ferro, and she makes the sweet- 
est little kitten of a wife you ever saw. In Louise 
he would have been protected by a coat of mail : 
in Frankie he finds it turned into a pale blue, 
eider-down comforter, which suits his temperament 
much better. — The Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



December QOMETIMES girlhood is a mys- 

^ \Jj terious chaos of traits, out of 

which no one can foretell what sort of cosmos will 
follow or whether there will be a cosmos at all or 
only intelligent chaos to the end. But this girl 
seemed to carry her future in her face. She was 
a little mother to us all. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 

December rx^HE eager blood rushed into the 
^ JL girl's face, and a soft, dewy look 

came into her eyes, — that look which, when a man 
sees it in the eyes of the woman he loves, gives him 
the feeling that it would be easy to die for her, if 
only to see that indescribable look once more. — The 
Expatriates. 



226 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December 
3 



December 

4 



December 



r h e LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December Q«HE IS a mass of Contradiction to 
k-7 those who do not understand her, 
— now in the clouds, now in the depths. Bad 
weather depresses her. So does a sad story, the 
death of a kitten, solemn music. She is corre- 
spondingly volatile in the other direction, and often 
laughs at real calamities with wonderful courage. — 
'^he Love Affairs of an Old Maid. 



December fT^RUE humiHty disarms the mean- 
JL est vanity ; and a sincere eager- 
ness to relieve distress will strike through the pride 
of the ignorant as a good lance will strike through 
tin. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness, 



December TT TE women do our best. And we 
V V are shrewd enough to know that, 
if we should become what men would call honest, 
they would simply turn their broadcloth backs upon 
our uncalled-for frankness and seek the honeyed so- 
ciety of some sweet woman who flattered them ex- 
actly as we used to flatter them before we became 
so " honest." — From a Girl's Point of View. 



228 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December 
O 



December 

7 



December 
8 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December y^ ^\(^^ ^^y of ^^^ Competition in 
X every walk of life, it is not those 
who can shout the loudest, even in those busy marts 
where voice reigns supreme, who are going to be 
heard. No one man can continue to shout the 
loudest. A momentary audience and a raw throat 
are the most he can expect. But it is he who can 
exaggerate the most intelligently and overpaint the 
most subtly. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



December T^VEN the wayfarer gets an inkhng 
1-J from a poster ; but it is a man 
of the widest comprehension who gets the whole 
truth from the subtlest exaggeration. — From a 
Girl *s Point of View. 



December yjAVING no marriage of my own 



H. 
to worry over, it is gratuitous 
when I worry over other people's. Old maids, you 
know, like to air their views on matrimony and 
bringing up children. Their theories on these sub- 
jects have this advantage, — that they always hold 
good because they never are tried. — The Love Affairs 
of an Old Maid. 



230 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December 
9 



December 
lO 



December 
11 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December y]sj America particularly, conversa- 
X. tion is something which not even 
the French, who approach it most nearly, can 
thoroughly understand ; for, with all its blinding 
nimbleness and kaleidoscopic changes, there is a 
substratum of Puritan morality which holds some 
things sacred, too sacred even to argue in public, 
and one who transgresses turns off the colored 
lights, and, lo ! your conversation is all in grays and 
browns. — From a Girl 'j Point of View. 



December IVJOW of coursc all womcn desire 
X^ to be loved. She is a very 
queer woman who would deny that proposition if 
asked by the right person ; and I hope he would 
have sense enough not to believe her if she did. — 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



December rT^HE Ffench would commcnt on 
^ -L the cost of their resurrection 

robes and bite corners off the glittering walls of the 
New Jerusalem to see if it were 22-karat gold. — 
'The Expatriates. 



232 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December 
12 



December 
13 



December 

14 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December Tt /TARRIED men need all the en- 
" i.V A couragement they can get to 

keep them making love to their own wives. — From 
a Girl 's Point of View. 

December TV TEN often wondcr why girls' 
i. ▼ JL friendships are so hollow. 
They wonder why we are so ungenerous to each 
other, — " so hateful " we call it. Hateful is not a 
man's word : it is a woman's. And trust a woman 
to know exactly what it means ! — From a Girl 's 
Point of View. 



December ly/TOST girls havc two naturcs, — 
i.V J. one she shows to men and the 
other to other women. All we know of one is by 
the way she droops and is so openly bored in the 
society of women. We recognize the other at the 
approach of a man, even if we cannot see him, by 
the changes in the girl's face. She straightens her- 
self, puts a hand on each side of her waist, pushes 
her belt down lower, moistens her lips, a sparkle 
comes into her eyes, she touches her back hair, and 
runs a finger under the edge of her veil. Then she 
smiles. — From a Girl 's Point of View. 



234 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 
Decetnber 

15 



December 
16 



December 

17 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December TTVVEN the densc man is quite cap- 
J— y able of comprehending the a b c 
of human nature and of keeping his family in flan- 
nels. — From a Girl ' j Point of View. 



December y WONDER what will happen 
JL when, in heaven, one of these self- 
less women is led in triumph to a solid gold throne, 
all filled with eider-down cushions, where she can 
take the rest she never had on earth. Won't she 
stagger back against the glittering walls of the New 
Jerusalem, and say: "Not for me, not for me! 
Surely it must be for my husband ! " — 'The Love 
Affairs of an Old Maid. 

December TT THEN stupid men are men of 

20 y Y family, and one expects to find 

their wives sitting with clenched hands and set teeth, 
simply enduring life and praying for death, one is 
often surprised to see that they are generally stout 
women who wear many diamonds and a bovine ex- 
pression in their eyes, — women, in short, who are 
too stupid to be bored by stupidity. — Fro7n a GirPs 
Point of View. 

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19 



December 
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oecetnber TT THAT would be the feelings of a 
^* VV man of brilliant intellect — for 

the accomplished villain is always clever — who was 
detected in his crime, and who stood breathless be- 
fore his accusers, waiting for and expecting a life sen- 
tence at hard labor, to hear the judge's voice pro- 
nounce sentence, " Condemned for life to the 
perpetual society of fools." I believe that man 
would be taken from the court-room a raving ma- 
niac. — From a Girl ' j Point of View. 



December ripHERE is a Certain long, wonder- 
A ing, incredulous look which a 
woman gives her lover when she has tried to make 
him understand her for his own good and he has 
obtusely ignored her generosity. ' No man who has 
seen it ever understood it. It is so far beyond 
speech. — A Little Sister to the Wilderness. 



December y p vc\t,x\. chosc their wives oftener 
jL with regard to the mother's appear- 
ance and character, there might be more marriages 
which retain their flavor. — "The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



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rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December 
21 



December 
22 



December 
23 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December A | ARE real ncw woman is one 
■* JL whom you would wish to know. 

She is one whom you would invite to your most 
select dinners. You would be better men if you 
had more friends like her, and broader-minded 
women if you dropped a few of those who hand you 
doughnut recipes over the back fence and who en- 
tertain you with the history of the baby's measles. 
From a Girl 's Point of View. 



December /^NCE womcn taught their daugh- 

■^ V^ ters housekeeping and sewing 

from stern principle, and made it neither beautiful 
nor attractive. Then housekeeping went out of 
fashion. — From a Girl's Point of View, 



December A ■ AH E more fiery and impetuous a 
X woman is, the more easily, if she 
is in love, will she mould herself to circumstances. 
The more untamed and unbending she seems, the 
more helpless will she be under the strong excite- 
ment of love or grief. — The Love Affairs of an Old 
Maid. 



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rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December 

24 



December 

25 



December 

26 



rhe LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 

December "rT^HERE are SO many more Amer- 
' JL icans on board than English, I 

am afraid it will not be polite of us to ask them to 
sing their national hymn alone." 

" Not a bit of it," declared Lida, stoutly. "You 
don't know the English, my dear. If there were 
only one fat dowager or one beef-fed man, she or 
he would stand up all alone and sing it to the glory 
of God and the honor of Great Britain, and sit 
down in the proud consciousness of a duty well 
done." — The Expatriates. 



December T T is as if the new woman were striv- 
X ing, by making the best of her pres- 
ent environments and simply developing her woman 
nature instead of struggling to usurp man's, to 
enunciate a philosophy of life which shall so dignify 
homely duties and beautify the commonplace that 
her creed might well be : — 

" We shall pass through this world but once. If 
there be any kindness we can show or any good 
thing we can do to any fellow-being, let us do it 
now. Let us not defer nor neglect it ; for we shall 
not pass this way again." — From a Girl's Point of 
View. 



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December 

27 



December 
28 



The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December y KNOW One of thesc men whose 
X descriptions of a woman's dress are 
one of the experiences of a lifetime. He loves the 
word " bombazine." His mother must have worn 
a gown of black bombazine during his impression- 
able age ; and he never will be successful in de- 
scribing a modern costume until bombazines again 
become the rage. — From a Girl ' s Point of View. 



December y HAVE no paticncc with those 
**^ X people who fall in love with forbid- 

den property and give as their excuse, " I couldn't 
help it." Such culpable weakness is more danger- 
ous to society than real wickedness. — From a Girl 's 
Point of View. 



December ry^HERE is no loneliness in the 
** X world for a woman like the lone- 

Hness of being unloved. — The Love Affairs of an 
Old Maid. 



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The LILIAN BELL BIRTHDAY BOOK 



December 
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December 
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December 
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QCP 



1 7 1902 



Oi-.l 



1902 



S£P. W 1902 

sf:p 20 190? 



